‘Always doing what’s right by the customers:’ Naperville’s Oswald’s Pharmacy marks 150 years

Finding the pharmacy counter at Oswald’s Pharmacy in Naperville is easy.

Just walk straight to the back, past the gift boutique, the postal services counter, the jigsaw puzzles, the toys, the Naperville-themed souvenirs and now the 150th anniversary specialty Oswald brand sodas.

The store is celebrating its history this year in a variety of ways, including installing a time capsule in its original location in downtown Naperville, where there’s now a Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen restaurant.

But it also is looking forward, as it always has, to thrive. The store has made it this far “because we have changed in every era,” owner Alex Anderson said.

The history

The store opened as an apothecary in 1875 on Jefferson Avenue. In 1883, the original owners sold it to an employee. It has been family-owned ever since.

Those changes over the years included adding a soda fountain in 1917, which became popular when Prohibition closed down taverns; removing the soda fountain in 1952, to increase the cosmetics sales area, and doubling the size of the store; becoming the first pharmacy in Naperville to use computers in 1977; moving to Gartner Road in 2004 to increase the size and improve service, as the nature of the downtown had changed; and increasing its medical-supplies business, including buying a store in Geneva.

Anderson, 38, grew up in the store. He has a picture of himself at age 4, and his brothers, at the cash register.

“In the summer, the pharmacy was often the babysitter, and I would ‘help’ work the register,” he said.

He started working real shifts at age 14, but when he went away to college, he had no interest in the store. That changed in 2016, when he came back. He bought the store in 2021.

Surviving

Anderson says the pharmacy part of the business relies on the sales of the other items.

The variety of things the store sells provide support for the actual pharmacy, as it competes against larger chain stores and deals with vexing rules, regulations and changes in the health care business, according to Anderson.

The pharmacy also prides itself on personalized customer service.

“It’s just that constant care,” Anderson said. The chief pharmacist, who is retiring Monday, has been with the store for 34 years.

“I think it is a combination of … just always doing what’s right by our customers. It’s doing what’s necessary to change the pharmacy.

“It’s just kind of keeping your finger on the pulse of what’s changing,” he added.

Celebration

Anderson is having fun with the anniversary.

The store has created its own brand of apothecary products, such as rose oil, and craft sodas.

“It’s just fun to do our own private-label products,” Anderson said. His favorite flavor is the raspberry-lime rickey, something served at the soda fountain.

He teamed up with the Naperville Heritage Society, featuring its vintage postcards on jigsaw puzzles.

The family is donating items from its 20th-century personal collection to Naper Settlement. And a portion of proceeds from sales of the 150th-anniversary product line, including the custom puzzle, will be donated to the Naperville Heritage Society.

A special customer-oriented weekend is planned for Sept. 26-27. And until Aug. 31, customers are invited to submit items for the time capsule.

What’s next?

Just like he did, Anderson’s children, ages 7 and 9, hang at the store and “help” out.

He’s looking to add another medical-equipment site.

And there’s “my lifelong dream of reopening the soda fountain,” he said.