In 1947, Harold Lefkowitz borrowed $1,500 from his Uncle Eddie. He had a degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and a plan. And, with his wife, Lillian, beside him, he opened Harrold’s Pharmacy on Old River Road in the middle of a quiet South Wilkes-Barre neighborhood. Harold’s mission was simple – providing medicine and pharmacy services to his community in the Wyoming Valley.

At the time, Harrold’s was generally a compounding pharmacy with two employees – Harold, or “Doc” Harold as customers came to calling him, and Lillian. “After five years, they hired a front-end person to run the soda fountain out front,” says third-generation owner, pharmacist and Harold’s grandson, Bruce Lefkowitz. “It really was a hometown pharmacy.”

It all started so simple

And, from the very beginning, they even offered home delivery of medications and sometimes the occasional ice cream float for a “favorite” customer. In just a few short years, the local, homegrown pharmacy had established itself as both a trusted partner in the community’s overall health and wellness and as a social gathering place.

A new era and a changing world

By the late 1950s, Harold’s son, Barry had completed his degree at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science. And in 1958, at 23 years-old, he joined his father and mother in the family business. And as the retail pharmaceutical landscape in the U.S. underwent major shifts in the 1960s, the youthful addition of “Doc” Barry helped position Harrold’s as nimble and progressive among the expansion of national chain pharmacies.

Right away, Barry Lefkowitz sought to bring the pharmacy up to speed regarding the evolving industry. And as more medicines started to become commercially available, Harrold’s shifted away from compounding and into filling prescriptions. This was a time of great change for the small, family business. Sure, cherry phosphates were still a nickel and you could get the daily news for pennies from the curly-haired kid stacking papers in the corner, but speed and efficiency were the new name of the game. And, for Harrold’s, in only its second decade at the time, the sweeping change was its first true test of survival.

And then… the flood

Harrold’s Pharmacy emerged from the 1960s and the onslaught of massive retail competition unscathed. Maybe the days had grown a bit longer and busier for Harold and Barry, but business was good.

As the pharmacy approached its 25th year in the early seventies, the father/son pharmacists found themselves clocking 80-hour weeks. They were eating home-cooked family meals at the store, and young Bruce, now approaching his teenage years, was struck with the realization that this whole thing was so much more than just filling pill bottles. “I watched them taking care of people and putting themselves out there and treating people in the community and putting people’s needs before profits,” Bruce recalled. “And I could tell how that was really important for them.”

Down, but not out

Then, in the summer of 1972, Tropical Storm Agnes settled over the Wyoming Valley. The unprecedented storm resulted in one of the most devastating floods to ever hit the U.S. The Susquehanna River broke through its earthen levee at a natural bend near Riverside Drive and Charles Street in South Wilkes-Barre. The homes and businesses had been evacuated long before. The people, tuning to radios from emergency shelters, lived the devastation through serious, crackling voices. And Harrold’s Pharmacy, which sat in a direct line less than half a mile from the breach, had been completely destroyed.

Again, the family pharmacy was facing tough odds

Their building and the entire inventory were unusable. For “Doc” Harold and “Doc” Barry, though, rebuilding the business was secondary to taking care of their customers. In short time, Harrold’s Pharmacy was up and running — from a rented HUD trailer on cinder blocks. That “flood story,” according to Bruce, sums up the underlying ethos of his family’s enduring business. “It’s always been about caring for our community… caring for our neighbors,” he said. Bruce went on to note that, Harrold’s was actually one of the very first businesses to rebuild after the flood.

“But they never called me Doc. I was always just Bruce. I don’t know why.”

The 1980s brought more changing and more adapting for Harrold’s Pharmacy. By now, they had branched out into providing specialized services to nursing homes and long-term care facilities. They even entered into the medical supply game. And, of course, they still offered free, local delivery.

Then, in 1987, as they celebrated 40 years in business, Bruce, freshly graduated from (where else?) The Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, and with a little escape to California behind him, happily joined his grandfather and father behind the counter. And much like Barry did in the 60s, Bruce also brought with him a new perspective and an eye toward innovation. Almost immediately, he recognized a need within NEPA’s aging population for better prescription management and an opportunity to introduce infusion medications to the pharmacy’s repertoire.

Fresh perspective

From the 1980s into the new millennium, Harrold’s faced more changes and increased competition from the internet and mail order pharmacies. “We’ve got so many opposing forces in pharmacy. And a lot of those forces tend to work against our customers – you got mail order and mandatory mail order,” Bruce said. His plan for meeting the challenge, however – relying on the basics. “It’s a challenge for sure,” he continued. “But I think if we keep doing what we’re doing and keep taking care of our patients, we’ll be fine.”

The greatest change, perhaps, around this time, was the dynamic pharmacy trio suddenly being reduced to just one. Both Harold and Barry passed away within a short span after Bruce stepped in. “I was fortunate enough to be able to work with both my grandfather and my father together – just to be next to them and talking the same pharmacy language and perpetuating the pharmacy business… that was pretty cool,” he said.

Carrying on

In 2011, Bruce moved Harrold’s Pharmacy into the Old River Road Bakery building just up the street. There, he created a much larger, state-of-the-art facility to better serve his customer’s needs. And among the incredible changes in pharmacy technology – Harrold’s now has a sorting robot – Bruce still insists that all the credit for their success lands on the shoulders of the pharmacists, technicians and staff that man the counters and meet with customers on a daily basis. “A lot of the work is about innovation, but really it’s taking care of patient’s specific needs,” he said.

And in another way, according to Bruce, Harrold’s has also found itself reverting to the pharmacy’s old practice of compounding medicine to meet very specific needs. They also offer a Pillbox Program that helps to manage and monitor customer’s daily medications.

It’s been 78 years since this small, family-run pharmacy began its journey

The times, the neighborhoods, the faces – they gradually changed. The ice cream fountain is, perhaps, now a sorting robot. But the sentiment, the work ethic, the practice of leading with a smile and placing the customer’s needs before anything else — all these things that poured from “Doc” Harold’s heart and from “Doc” Barry’s gentle smile and from, yes, “Doc” Bruce’s kind soul – they remain.

And when asked about the Lefkowitz family legacy continuing at Harrold’s beyond Bruce, he smiled. (He has five adult children in various careers. They’re currently setting up their own lives and families in different parts of the country.) Our behind-the-scenes tour was coming to an end. He walked silently for a moment among the employees behind the pharmacy counter and gave a proud nod. “That’s a great question,” he said.