Gene Hayes received his pharmacist degree from Butler University in 1938. Mr. Hayes served as a pharmacy officer at the Eighth General Hospital, New Caledonia, in the South Pacific theater during World War II, where he met his wife, who was a nurse in the same unit. After the war, he returned to his pharmacist position in a Martinsville, Indiana drugstore.
Mooresville Times
Thursday, May 20, 1965
(click images to enlarge)
In 1947 Mr. Hayes opened Hayes Pharmacy at 6 West Main Street in downtown Mooresville. He had purchased Cooper Drugstore at that location. A. R. Cooper, Jr. (Al) and Fred Cooper, along with their father, A. R. Cooper, Sr., had constructed the L-shaped building at 6 West Main Street (circa 1906) and operated their pharmacy there until selling out to Mr. Hayes. (The Cooper brothers had taken over the business from their father, who retired in 1916.)
Mooresville Monitor, February 10, 1916
Advertisement from The 'Levenite,
Mooresville High School Yearbook (1911)
Like the Coopers before him, Mr. Hayes originally kept most merchandise behind the counter to be retrieved by sales staff upon customer request. By the late 1950s, most items were displayed "self-service, on the floor" for customers to pickup while browsing, and then they would pay at the cashier. Pharmaceuticals, of course, were always kept behind the counter in a secure area at the rear of the store.
During the 1950s, Hayes Pharmacy featured a soda fountain, which quickly became a popular teen hangout.
Advertisement from 1959 Wagon Trails
(Mooresville High School Yearbook)
Advertisement from 1958 Wagon Trails
(Mooresville High School Yearbook)
In the 1950s, downtown Mooresville sported three full-service soda fountains, as the video (below) explains.
Grandpa Billy Bob's Mooresville History Super Fun Quiz #7,
by Mooresville Public Library
Hayes' Mooresville store was remodelled in 1956 (see below).
(Advertisement from the Mooresville Times,
Thursday, November 15, 1956, page 8)
Mooresville Times
Thursday, November 15, 1956
Martha & Ray outside 6 West Main Street in Downtown Mooresville (formerly Hayes Pharmacy [1947-1965], now Ralph & Ava's Restaurant), holding a gatefold advertisement of Hayes Pharmacy from the 1959 Wagon Trails (Mooresville High School Yearbook) (Photos September 2, 2021 by William R. Buckley)
The Hayes' children, Martha and Ray, both worked in the family business while growing up in Mooresville (their home was located on Carter Street). While in high school, Martha was paid $1 per hour, which was a decent wage for part-time student employees in the early 1960s. Ray and Martha fondly remembered the soda fountain, as well as the nickel Coca-Cola bottles dispensed from a vending machine after the soda fountain had been removed. They also recalled the large clock with a marble face, which was situated at the back of the store, and which is now housed in the Academy School building on the Newby Campus in Mooresville.
(Undated Photo from Ray Hayes)
Ray recounted a couple of humorous incidents that occurred while he worked at the store. There was a huge safe kept in the rear area, which was equipped with a tear gas canister that would discharge if anyone attempted to break into the safe. One day the canister fell to the floor and ruptured, filling the building with tear gas. Everyone had to be immediately evacuated until the gas was cleared.
(2021 Photo by Ray Hayes)
(2021 Photo by Ray Hayes)
During the mid-1960s, Ray was working the counter when an extremely inebriated customer entered, demanding to purchase liquor. Ray patiently explained that the store did not stock alcoholic beverages, but the customer was insistent. Finally, the aggravated customer blurted out, "What the [expletive] kind of store is this?" Unperturbed, Ray replied, "This is a pharmacy, sir. We sell prescription medicines." The intoxicated customer reflected upon this for a moment, then stated, "Well, gimme some rubbing alcohol, then." Ray looked over to the pharmacist on duty, who had been laughing quietly but was now waving his hands wildly. (Rubbing alcohol can be fatal if ingested.) Ray explained that he didn't have any bottles of rubbing alcohol available, and the customer stumbled away into the night.
(2021 Photo by Ray Hayes)
(2021 Photo by Ray Hayes)
Martha cherished her working experience at the store. "We learned the value of a dollar by working there, and we knew how to make change, something many young people today don't seem to be able to do," she quipped.
Hayes Drugstore featured in the
advertisement section of the
1959 Wagon Trails
(Mooresville High School Yearbook)
1964 Wagon Trails
(Mooresville High School Yearbook)
By 1965, competition from large pharmacy chain stores impinged upon the Hayes customer base. As fewer prescriptions were being filled, Mr. Hayes made the difficult decision to close the Mooresville location and concentrate upon his Martinsville store. The new owners, Norman Richhart, Jr., Gerald Richhart, and Chester Freeland, moved the business to the shopping center (built in 1965) at Monroe and Carlisle Streets on the northwest side of Mooresville, across from the Dog-N-Suds drive-in restaurant.
Mooresville Times,
August 12, 1965
Martinsville Daily Reporter,
Thursday, April 8, 1965
Martha reflected upon her family's business in the bygone days of local "mom-and-pop" establishments. "You could find everything you needed in Mooresville at the many friendly businesses here," she explained. "It was a great little town to grow up in. People were very supportive of local business. Your customers were your neighbors--people you knew well and liked." It was an idyllic time for many "baby-boomers," and we salute the Hayes family and their entrepreneurial skill and commitment to making their community a better place.
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