Hutton Pharmacy looks at Doolin location to keep store alive "for generations"

Hutton Pharmacy is preparing for a big move that, according to owner, manager, and pharmacist Clark Bishop will keep the Hutton name alive for generations to come.

In July 2023, heavy storms led to the roof caving in at Hutton Pharmacy’s long-time building on Main Street.

Torrential rain poured into the shop for over 8 hours, damaging the interior and almost everything inside of the Blackwell staple.

After half a year at its temporary location on Bridge, Hutton Pharmacy is looking to move to its new location at the old Pizza Inn on the corner of 9th and Doolin.

“We hate leaving Main Street,” said Bishop in his office at the Bridge Street location, “but it is going to ensure that we have the space and location to keep our pharmacy alive and to continue serving the people of Blackwell and Kay County.”

The Pizza Inn building will be renovated and remodeled, with a new front built, and will allow Hutton Pharmacy to bring back the boutique selection it offered in its Main Street building while also allowing for a clinic, drive-through service, better parking options, and a multi-purpose room.

“We will still offer gifts, greeting cards, supplements, and we will also offer immunizations, point of care, education…there will be more there than we were able to offer previously,” Bishop said.

“And parking is perhaps going to be the new location’s greatest strength.”

Bishop anticipates that they will be moved into the new site by Fall 2024.

“Hutton Pharmacy has been a major part of Blackwell’s history, and this new location will open new doors for us, and make sure that Hutton maintains its legacy for a lifetime to come,” said Bishop.

“We had just done so much work to the Main Street location. We had installed that new facade on the building, and it was great. None of us could have expected that storm to do what it did, and my initial reaction was just…after all that work, now what do we have?”

Bishop paused.

“I’ll tell you what we have. We have people. A business is more than just a building, it’s more than just the new frontage and new windows. It’s the people that run it, it’s the people that help, it’s our customers. A business is not a place, it’s the people.”

When the July storms rolled through and left Hutton Pharmacy devastated, Bishop said his team didn’t miss a beat in leaping into action.

“We have another location in Enid, and our team didn’t bat an eye at carpooling to Edmond to keep servicing Blackwell from there. Dr. Shuart and his brother Scott were quick to act on getting us into this temporary location- they understood the need of the community, and they let us in here immediately. The City of Blackwell has worked with us so well too, City Manager Jerry Wieland and the Blackwell Code Enforcement office, they have been so good at seeing what we need, helping us, and getting us into the new location on Doolin.”

“My team came to me after the storm and just asked ‘What do we have to do? What can we do?’. I cannot express enough how thankful I am to work with the people that I do. Mountains were moved to get us into this spot within just a matter of weeks after losing Main Street. Our customers reached out, asking what they could do. It was unbelievable.”

Hutton Pharmacy serves an estimated 4,000 or so people within Kay County and, according to Bishop, well over half of that is in Blackwell.

“We do delivery within Blackwell and twice a week to Tonkawa,” said Bishop, “we are looking to expand that into possibly Braman as well.”

“We looked at other buildings on Main, we looked at building our new location from the ground up, but the owners of the Pizza Inn building and I met on a good price, and this will open a lot of doors for us,” said Bishop.

“We love Blackwell- we love the people here, we love being a part of this community, and we are excited to welcome our customers back with open arms at our new location.”