When Abdul Qaiyum, a young Pakistani immigrant and recent pharmacy school graduate, discovered Merz Apothecary in 1972, the Swiss German drugstore was on the verge of closing permanently after nearly a century in business. Qaiyum bought the store from the founding family and has run it ever since, transforming a modest purveyor of homeopathic remedies into a retailer that combines modern business savvy with old-world nostalgia. An additional fun fact about Merz Apothecary: Founded in 1875, it’s the oldest business we’ve featured to date.
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TahoeBob
on 10 Nov 15Thanks for profiling this business! I forwarded it to my dad because I remembered he had used them for many years for eye medicine (I remember seeing the little green bottles of eye drops with the Merz label as a kid). He told me that Dr. Merz was his opthamologist who prescribed the medicine that his brother’s apothecary dispensed.
Wailin
on 12 Nov 15@TahoeBob: Wow, what a story! Thank you for sharing it.
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