SCHNUCKS BUYS BILL'S PHARMACY

Schnucks has purchased Bill's Pharmacy of Cape Girardeau.

August Smirl, pharmacist and owner of Bill's Pharmacy, announced this week that he had sold his family-owned business to Schnuck Market Inc., another family-owned business.

Prescriptions will be transferred from Bill's Pharmacy, 60 Doctors' Park, to the Schnucks store at 19 S. Kingshighway, where Smirl and his staff from the pharmacy will become Schnucks' newest associates Monday.

"As a small business, it has become increasingly difficult for me to compete effectively and remain profitable while maintaining the level of service our customers have come to expect," Smirl said.

"As part of Schnucks, we can offer our customers a great location, extended hours, drive-through convenience and wider variety of products," said Smirl.

The Schnucks pharmacy and drive-through are open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Smirl's business dates back to the 1960s, when Smirl's father, William "Bill" Smirl, purchased Tenkehoff Drug Store. He changed the name to reflect the new ownership.

Over the past 40 years, Bill's Pharmacy has built up a strong and loyal customer base, Smirl said.

Through the new agreement with Schnucks, Smirl, who has been a pharmacist since 1989, will continue practicing pharmacy and "my customers will continue to be served by a caring staff," he said.

Joining Smirl at Schnucks will be his Bill's Pharmacy team, Keith Huber, a pharmacy technician of 23 years; Patsy Stringer, a pharmacy technician of seven years; and Jennifer Diebold, a summer assistant at Bill's Pharmacy who will finish out the summer at Schnucks.

Schnucks, which operates 92 stores in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, was founded in St. Louis in 1939 and has been in Cape Girardeau almost 25 years.