The loss of downtown merchants

DeFever-Osborn Rexall Drug Store closed last month. There was a wildfire rumor then notice in the afternoon Independence Daily Reporter. Steve DeFever gave employees one week notice that the store was to close. Steve sold the store to Walgreen's so they could acquire his prescription files and customers. The historic orange neon sign for the store projected 90 degrees from the building and would be seen from both direction on Penn Avenue for many years. It is now dark.


When I visited Independence to be interviewed for the library director's position my son visited with me to access prospects and my staying power moving from metropolitan Palm Beach County Florida to small-town Kansas. The first impression we both had as we drove into town that August of 2001 was positive, bolstered in-part by the busy downtown commercial district. After dinner with the library board and selection committee at John's Kitchen and Pub, I met with them again the next afternoon. At noon that day, my son and I had gone to the lunch counter at DeFever-Osborn Drug Store for soup and sandwiches.

The drug store bustled both at the prescription counter and at the lunch counter. A dozen stools faced what had started as a soda fountain before 'pop' came in cans and teenagers ordered cherry-limeades that came in glasses not styrofoam cups from Sonic Drive-In. There were two or three wooden booths between the lunch counter and the prescription counter for coffee drinkers and newspaper readers. Steve had hung lots of historic photographs in the store and he actually had a better collection than the library. I borrowed a couple from him to copy for our files.

I was in Walgreen's the other day to get a prescription and saw Steve working there behind the counter as I waited. I won't say that I liked the line and the wait. I think I liked looking at the old photos at the old store better.

Across the street from DeFever-Osborn was Calvert's Department Store. They announced their closing in the same article that announced the drug store closing. I may write more about that later.


So, in one month two downtown landmark stores closed. It is tough for merchants in small towns as Walmart and city malls take customers away.