The story of Flynn, the Drug Store Co., spans three generations of the Flynn family over 70 years in Holyoke.
Before the advent of chain pharmacies, which at times had multiple locations in a city, most pharmacies of the 19th and 20th centuries were individually owned. The Flynn family was an outlier, once owning four pharmacies, three of which were in Holyoke. I don't believe any pharmacy, whether family or a chain, past or present, had three pharmacies operating simultaneously in Holyoke. This is the story of the Flynn Drug Co.
The Holyoke City Directory shows Simon Flynn, born in 1874, worked for the Bardwell & Flynn Drug Co., located at 518 Bridge Street, corner of Cabot, in 1897. He continued to work there through 1899 and resided at 662 High Street.
In 2000, together with his brother Patrick H. Flynn and C. E. Bardwell, they opened the Flynn Drug Company at 647 High Street. Patrick was shown as the Registered Druggist in the early 1900s ads.
Speaking of ads, many appeared to be designed by the companies whose products the pharmacy made available for sale. This benefited both the store with increased foot traffic and the manufacturer, who advertised its products.
By 1906, Simon Flynn opened his pharmacy at the corner of Cabot and South Bridge Sts. The store was simply named S. A. Flynn, Druggist. This store gained some more contemporary prominence in the future, which will be revealed later.
The Flynn Drug Co. moved from 647 High Street to 416 Maple Street at the corner of Sargeant in 1910. Also that year, the Flynns opened their third pharmacy at 1032 Chicopee St. in the Willimansett section of Chicopee and close to the B&M Railroad station. The third pharmacy was also named Flynn Drug Co., and E. A. Weinrich was its manager.
In 1922, the Flynns purchased the A. R. Vincent Drug Co. at the northeast corner of Main and Cabot Streets. Arthur Vincent was in failing health and retired. This would be the fourth and final pharmacy in a chain separated at its furthest by 1.2 miles.
There were lean financial times in the 1930s due to the Great Depression, however the businesses persevered.
Simon A. Flynn died in March 1935. The S. A. Flynn, druggist business at 518 South Bridge Street was taken over by Simon Flynn's son-in-law, Romeo Grenier, whose wife, Betty (Flynn) Grenier, was Vice President. The name of the store was changed to Grenier Pharmacy Inc. in 1942. Romeo and Betty Grenier later founded the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley and were the proprietors of Glesmann's Pharmacy also in that town.
The Vincent Drug Company store was sold to Herve M. Harnisch in October 1935.
Patrick H. Flynn, co-founder of the Flynn Drug Co., died in April 1941.
In late 1948, the Willimansett Flynn Drug Co. store was sold to June Knightly, whose parents previously owned the "Y" Pharmacy in Willimansett. The Flynn Drug Co. store's name was later changed to Knightly Drug Store in August 1956.
What remained as Flynn Drug Co. was the flagship store located at 416 Maple St. This was operated by John F. Flynn, a pharmacist since 1941. He was the son of William Flynn, the brother of Patrick and Simon Flynn.
After John F. Flynn died in 1959, the business continued in the family tradition with Margaret Flynn, John F. Flynn's sister and a registered pharmacist, and Anne Marie Flynn, John Flynn's daughter.
In 1969, the last of the Flynn's stores was sold to Sargeant Drug Inc. of 155 Sargeant Street, corner of Walnut. Over 70 years of pharmaceutical service by the Flynn family had ended.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; publication dates and pages are shown.
Registry of Deeds, Hampden County, Springfield, Massachusetts
City of Holyoke, Massachusetts, Assessors' Office
Ancestry.com, Price & Lee, Holyoke City Directories
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