This story originally appeared in our September 2005 issue, but with the recent closing of Hutchinson Drug Store, we thought it would be appropriate to revisit the Lexington landmark.
At the end of business on Tuesday, October 30, 2007, Hutchinson Drug Store closed its doors. Since 1926, thousands of people have passed through this downtown institution: flappers and film stars, servicemen and society matrons, business folk on their lunch hours, grandparents, parents, toddlers, and teens. And for the past 81 years, Hutchinson Drug has served them all with the most modern pharmaceuticals of the day amid the warmth and caring of community.
When I walked into the store about 5 p.m. that Tuesday, owner John Hutchinson was busy sharing tales of the store's history with friends old and new, and the place was filled with well-wishers. He said it had been that way pretty much all day. John's wife, Gloria, and four of their five kids were there, too, for Hutchinson's has always been a family affair. And with only two hours to go before closing, the lunch counter was doing a brisk business in classics like pimiento cheese (homemade every morning) and strawberry phosphates. I wondered, as I sipped on a last chocolate shake, if there is any place left in Lexington to buy a phosphate.
Hutchinson's operated on its last day the way it operated every day: with class. No "everything-must-go signs