The Old Townie: Drugs, smokes and booze
Oxford's pharmacies have changed drastically in the decades since Steve Schnabl moved to the city.
With the empty Walgreens at South Locust and Fairfield Road lengthening wait times to pick up prescriptions at Kroger, I’ve been reflecting on the drug stores I’ve frequented throughout my decades in Oxford.
John Minnis Drugs, named for its owner, was in the currently vacant Jimmy John’s space on High Street. Today a much newer building bears his name a few doors to the west, memorializing John’s impact on Oxford. John had retired by the time I became a customer, but it became a frequent stop beginning in the mid ’70s as I would pick up a case of our one-gallon bottles of wine for the month and a carton of Winston’s for Wife. The case and the carton were slightly less than $40 together, if memory serves me well.
In a package deal with Wife, I had gained three stepchildren who were 7, 9 and 11 at the beginning. Their ailments — earaches, bad coughs, eye infections and flu — often triggered Wife to add a task for me at Minnis.
“Ask Mike,” she’d say. “He’ll know what to suggest.”
Mike Kilday was one of the four partners who bought Minnis Drugs when John retired in 1968. After a few years, Minnis moved to a larger location at High and Beech that is now Kofenya and BikeWise. Speaking with Mike this week, he said Kroger eventually bought the Minnis prescription package, and Mike moved to Kroger pharmacy when Kroger built its new store on Wells Mills and McGuffey. Kroger moved once again to the current location, adding a pharmacy drive-thru for the first time; Mike went along.
(P.S. Mike and Rosie Kilday celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary earlier this year. Congrats!)
My earliest Oxford Kroger trips were to the location on South Locust with the grocery in the TJ Maxx space, and Kroger-owned SuperX pharmacy in the Dollar Tree space, connected by an interior hallway at the front entrances. Kroger dropped the separate pharmacies, selling to CVS which took over the SuperX space here and the entire chain. CVS moved to its current location at Spring and South College when Stewart Square developed.
By that time, Oxford’s first Walmart had landed with its pharmacy across South Locust where Lane Library currently sits. Walmart next built its superstore on College Corner Pike.
Walgreens was the last to arrive — and the first major chain pharmacy to leave Oxford. I got Wife’s smokes there for a while (she’d switched to Winston Gold 100’s), but I always missed the full liquor aisles that grace Walgreens in Chicagoland and other states.
Wife’s and my increasing health issues took us to our favorite Kroger pharmacy more and more frequently. Along with Mike (who retired in 2010), we enjoyed getting acquainted personally with pharmacists including Scott, Peggy, Warren and the current long-timer Sherry. Pharm techs including Christina, Evan, Leslie, Melissa and Chris (who started as a front-end cashier, became a pharm tech when he entered UC’s pharmacy school, interned at the Oxford store and became a Kroger pharmacist at a Northern Kentucky store before his untimely death) are just a few of the friendly and welcoming personalities I remember or know now.
While my Medicare drug plan providers continue to press me to use their mail-order prescription services, I far prefer having a friendly relationship with the folks at my drugstore. I’m sure that many locals are equally happy with the staff they know at their own favorite pharmacies. It’s all part of Oxford’s small-town appeal.
Steve Schnabl moved to Oxford in 1985. He retired in 2023 from Oxford Seniors after a 40-year career directing nonprofits.
