Co-op Cut Rate Drug Store
Elaine "Tommie" Davis opened the Co-op Cut Rate Drug Store, at 40 N. Main St., in Cape Girardeau on Oct. 18, 1933. An article ran in a 1941 issue of "Drug Topics" stating that Davis's store was one of the first to operate a Women's Department in a drug store. This ground-breaking department, for the time, combined baby needs, "Beauty Bar" and personal needs into one area of the store. This allowed for a one-stop-shop for female shoppers in downtown Cape Girardeau. The store also catered to men by selling liquor, cigarette and pipe holders.