Photo Courtesy of Dougherty’s Pharmacy
Dougherty’s Pharmacy is packing up and moving from Preston Royal Village. Don’t fret, however, because it’s not moving too far. Dougherty’s, which celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2019, is setting up its new shop in the Preston Valley shopping center. It will be jam packed with new amenities for everyone to enjoy.
The location is set to open in mid-March. Features will include an old-fashioned soda fountain, state-of-the-art clinical laboratories and a drive-thru. It also bring back the old school charm of the Preston Royal location, with the classic signs and neon lights adorning the exterior. The iconic mural will also be transported.
“Same fuel, just a different location, and inside, a new engine,” Stewart Edington, president and CEO said.
The decision to move Dougherty’s wasn’t made lightly. However with this move, Dougherty’s is looking to engage more Dallas neighbors due to their new proximity to the Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway.
“Getting closer to LBJ gives them a much broader sort of convenience, to the Metroplex, for people who want to drive there and use their products,” David Sacher, co-founder of SHOP Companies, who are the managers of the property, said.
Dougherty’s will also be in the “best space in the shopping center,” according Sacher.
“We think that Dougherty’s is an iconic brand that is well known within the Preston Hollow community, and that its quality will permeate throughout the center, and ultimately we think businesses will follow,” Sacher said. “It will elevate the quality of the tenet mix with time.”
After a difficult last three years, Dougherty’s is looking toward the future with this move. Beyond being hit by the 2019 tornado, the brand faced a plethora of financial challenges. The company filed for bankruptcy before being bought out, and they lost other revenue streams.
Now, however, Dougherty’s has found success through their COVID-19 response. Their clinical team was the first independent pharmacy in the area to administer testing, and they were also one of the first vaccine distributors in Texas, allocating 1,200 vaccinations to vulnerable populations in 48 hours.
“At one stage, we represented almost 20% of all the vaccines that were done in Texas,” Edington said.
Looking forward, Edington hopes that they’ll be able to keep the quality of their pharmaceutical services at a high-level.
“I want to keep the 91-year-old heritage that this pharmacy has. I don’t want it to be another CVS or Walgreens,” Edington said. “I want it to be an independent pharmacy that has the highest level of service and you know, everything that a CVS or Walgreens has. So that’s what we’re looking for.”
Beyond providing the best pharmaceutical services that they can, Dougherty’s also hopes to be a beacon for the Preston Hollow community. They hope that their patrons will follow them to their new location.
“You know, it’s been there for a long time and it was time for a move. It was time for a rebrand in my opinion. We we are going to do everything we can to maintain the customers we have and obviously find more,” Edington said. “But it’s the ones that have supported us for the last 70, 80 years and were children when they came in there that we’d like to hold on to. That’s important to us. They really are family. So, we just want to make sure that we look after them.”
Dougherty’s will be located in the Preston Valley shopping center at 12817 Preston Rd, Dallas, TX 75230.
