Longtime family-owned Arlington Hts. pharmacy moving into Mariano's

Bill Harris is definitely hoping for the best of both worlds.

He has sold his family pharmacy to Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. and will manage the chain's local prescription shop at Mariano's Fresh Market.

At the same time, the Harris Pharmacy at 20 S. Dunton in Arlington Heights will become Harris Home Decor and More, operated by Bill's wife, Laura, and 20-year employee Laurie Nichols.

While Harris expects a lot about his pharmacy business to remain the same when he switches from independent to corporate, he's not sure about all the details. Pharmacy employees who want to can move to Mariano's at 802 E. Northwest Hwy.; the satellite operations at Cross Creek and Luther Village will remain open; and even the phone number will stay the same.

"They want us to offer exactly the same type of service with deliveries, and believe it or not, they want to keep our house charges," said Harris.

In a tradition that predates credit cards, Harris still has about 300 customers the pharmacy extends credit to, billing them each month.

But he's not sure how much room there will be at Mariano's for the elaborate tall glass bottles - a symbol of the profession - and other mementos handed down in his family. Both his grandfathers and a great-grandfather owned pharmacies in Chicago and Cicero. And his parents, both pharmacists, opened two stores in the 1950s in Arlington Heights, including the one on South Dunton.

Customer Judy Amberg finds the changes sad.

"My husband remembers when they had a soda fountain," she said. "There was no question this is the pharmacy we go to. Bill has been very helpful going over medications, that kind of thing.

"I brought in cookies for the staff - that's the spirit that this place generates. It's family and hometown stuff."

Harris' last day in the Dunton store will be Sept. 20. His pharmacy will be closed Tuesday for inventory, and he'll be at Mariano's on Wednesday. The gift shop staff is hoping to stay open throughout the transition.

While he has been courted over the years by other chains, Harris found Mariano's different, perhaps because it's a smaller regional company.

He likes the "caliber of people," and says they are creating a lot of excitement and providing a level of customer service "you don't find in a lot of stores today."

And Harris admits that life is only getting tougher for independent pharmacists.

He blames insurance companies that refuse to negotiate contracts with small companies and systems that require people to use certain pharmacies. Medicare has also gotten expensive to work with, and sometimes it won't cover drugs it once did, he said.

Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder said she's glad Bill Harris and his brother, Greg, will still be in the village.

"It's a bright star for Mariano's," she said. "Actually quite ingenious of them. I just feel as though they've changed their location and still feel like I'm going to Harris because I'm going to the family."

In the last five years Harris has increased its gift sales about 20 percent each year, said Bill Harris, picking up lines of merchandise when downtown stores like the Pineapple Shop and Lynn's Hallmark closed.

"We like to decorate for the holidays," he said. "We'll have open houses like we normally do."

Besides the soda fountain, which was in the store until 1971, another feature for nostalgia was a very popular cosmetics island, said Harris.

Telling his customers about the move was a little nerve-racking, he said, but the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

"Most people are just so caring, they want to make sure it's good for me," Harris said.