Jim Potter still remembers when Dougherty’s Pharmacy was a hangout spot for Preston Hollow teenagers. “I was a student at Hillcrest when Dougherty’s opened here in the ‘60s. Back then, there was a movie theater in the shopping center, so we’d all hang out afterward.” Today, Potter is the vice president of Dougherty’s, a company that started in Oak Cliff in 1929, and moved to our neighborhood in 1967. Throughout its 80-year history, the pharmacy has seen the likes of Texas outlaws Bonnie and Clyde, who tried to rob it during the Great Depression before being chased off by the gun-toting owner. More has changed outside the pharmacy’s windows than within its walls. Pharmacists here, for example, will still do custom compounds, even if it’s for a dog. “We have one customer who moved away, but her dog still needed a compound. So every month, we send medication to Fluffy in San Antonio.” Dougherty’s will, of course, also deliver to its human clientele — and it’s just added an in house nutritionist. “We pride ourselves in being different than the chain pharmacies. We’re really a neighborhood pharmacy that’s about service from the heart. It’s been a great 80 years and we’re looking forward to the next 80 years.”
Dougherty’s Pharmacy is celebrating its 80th anniversary the week of Oct. 20 with in-store specials and celebrations. Visit doughertys.com for details.
