Quick Pharmacy

Quick Pharmacy

Written by Grant Fuller Friday, 07 September 2007

Century-old pharmacy develops with the times

When a Round Rock store stays in business for 100 years, its walls – however many times moved and removed – have witnessed some serious changes.

Current owner Bob McGahey bought Quick Pharmacy in 1988 when fewer than 30,000 people called Round Rock home.

Originally named Economy Drug in 1907 and then Noble Pharmacy, the store has endured three different locations, four ownership changes and a century of development. Brothers Eugene and Clarence Quick took over in 1942, and after all the area’s development, at least one thing has remained the same.

“We kept the name because of the history,” McGahey said. “In ’88, there were still a lot of old-timers around, so that’s the reason we kept it.”

Although most of its business today consists of newcomers to the area, Quick Pharmacy also maintains many loyal customers who appreciate the specialized services like area delivery and in-store charge accounts.

“There’s so many chain stores, and they do a really good job, but we try to find our niche in the things they don’t do,” McGahey said. “We just have more flexibility. The decisions are mine to make, and you don’t have to go through someone else.”

Even now in the shadow of the Walgreens next door, McGahey tries to make sure Quick Pharmacy consistently lives up to its name.

“We try to get people in and out as quick as possible,” McGahey said. “Customer service is first and foremost in our minds. Just helping people. That’s what we do.”

Computers have made a lot of things easier for McGahey and his staff of 12 (a robot called ScriptPro now fills 40 percent of prescriptions), but he also says the advent of mail-order prescriptions and the complication of insurance plans sometimes make him miss the simpler days.

“It’s just a different world,” McGahey said. “I used to have one old-timer come in and sit down, he was about 93, and we’d talk forever. You know, we just don’t have the time to do that anymore.”

The positive tradeoff for industry evolution is more business for Quick Pharmacy. The store is thriving today, but McGahey says he needed a little help from his Round Rock neighbors when he first took the reigns of the revered local pharmacy.

“There’s people that have come in here from day one when I bought the store, and I’m very thankful,” McGahey said. “Those people are special because they gave me an opportunity here.”

100 Years of Quick Pharmacy

• 1907 - Greene Noble opens Economy Drug in downtown Round Rock
• 1930 - Greene dies and son Gordon becomes owner
• 1942 - Eugene and Clarence Quick buy store and change name from Noble Pharmacy to Quick Pharmacy
• 1960 - Clarence moves away and Eugene continues to operate pharmacy
• 1980 - Milton and Ella Jez become new owners
• 1984 - Milton moves to shopping center on Palm Valley Blvd. to make way for downtown renovation
• 1988 - Bob and Debbie McGahey purchase Quick Pharmacy
• 1997 - Bob moves across street to location of the original Wag-a-Bag convenience store
• 2007 - Quick Pharmacy celebrates 100 years of business in Round Rock

Quick Pharmacy, 701 E. Palm Valley Blvd., Round Rock, TX, 512-255-2144 • www.quickrx.com