WARREN PRESCRIPTIONS

TRADITIONAL SERVICES

Dick Warren's family keeps his presence alive
at Warren Prescriptions.

D

ick Warren, founder of Warren Prescriptions, passed away
over two years ago, but his family and employees are deter-
mined to carry on his tradition of giving personal service and
a trusting, family-style atmosphere, as well as offering a wide
range of products and services not normally found in a typical drug
store.
Warren Prescriptions,
located on the corner of
14 Mile and Middlebelt
in Farmington Hills, is
now run by Dick's son-
in-law, Mark Klar. Klar
married Nori in 1986.
Nori, a pharmacist, is
also very involved in the
store's operation as well
as buying toys and gifts.
Dick's wife, Muriel, has
worked in the store
since the beginning.
Dick and Muriel spent
many long days togeth-
er in the store working
hard to build the busi-
ness it is today. She is
still very involved in the
business. Their full-time
pharmacists include
Dick's nephew, Andrew
Grodman, and Sharon
Moss, who has worked
in the store for over 20
years. Muriel's sister,
Cookie Newman, who
has been working at the
store since 1976, runs
the gift and cosmetic
departments. Many of their other employees have been working for the
family for 10, 15, even 25 years and are just as close as family.
Dick Warren operated four drug stores under the name Sherman
Prescriptions. He sold three stores in 1985 and renamed this location
Warren Prescriptions. The store expanded once in 1991 and was in the
midst of another expansion at the time of his death. Even with the increase
in size, the store retains its comfortable, familiar atmosphere and variety of
products.
"The store always had a large gift department," Klar says, "as well as a
big greeting card, cosmetic and toy department."
The store also has a large selection of newspapers, magazines, food and
beverages along with all the personal and health care products generally
found in a drug store. And Klar makes certain the store is not only well-
stocked with a large quantity of items, but also features top-quality prod-
ucts.
"We travel across the country to gift shows, toy shows, cosmetic, jewelry
and accessory shows, just to try to be the first out there with hot products.
We work very hard at trying to keep up with the trends."
What else sets Warren Prescriptions apart from all the chain drug stores
that pop up at every intersection?
"The personal service," Klar explains. "We're a family operation. You get
a different feel when you walk into a store like this, than you do when you
walk into a chain store.

"Our pricing is very
competitive. People
look at a chain drug
store and figure, 'OK,
these guys are huge,
they've got thousands of
stores, their prices are
going to be cheaper.'
Well, their prices are
not cheaper. If you look
Dick Warren
Mark Klar
at our cosmetic depart-
ment, for example, our
prices are usually 20
percent cheaper than
the chain stores every
day. "And the thing that
really sets us apart is the
personal service (espe-
cially in the prescription
department), the variety
of merchandise, and
knowing, when you
walk into the store,
there is always some-
body to talk to and help
you. Either the owner
or a management per-
son is always in the
store and available to
answer any question or
resolve any issue you
may have. You are not
writing a letter to cor-
porate headquarters.
When you come to
our store, you're dealing
with somebody who
cares about the cus-
tomer and the store."
Klar has plenty of
experience in the drug
store business. His father, Ed Klar, owned a store in Warren. Mark's
involvement in that store led to him meeting his father-in-law before
meeting Nori, his future wife. Klar has owned Sax Drugs in Taylor since
1985. Sax Drugs is very similar in size and variety of merchandise as
Warren Prescriptions as well as having the same kind of personal service.
Mark wasn't directly involved in Warren Prescriptions before 1999, but
he and Dick Warren maintained an extremely close relationship and
spoke several times each day. Mark was always familiar with the opera-
tion of Warren Prescriptions. Today, he divides his time between the two
locations.
Klar has made only minor changes at Warren Prescriptions in the past
two years. "When I first came in," Klar recalls, "I just observed the opera-
tion. I met several times with everybody in management to talk about the
transition. But my goals and my father-in-law's goals are the same. Our
goals are to give the best customer service we can, create a great shopping
atmosphere and take care of our employees. Our employees are our family,
so we want what's best for them, too. And hopefully they can grow within
the company and we'll all be here a long time. "
One forthcoming addition will be a photo montage of Dick Warren in
the customers' waiting area in the pharmacy. "His presence will always be
felt in the store. I don't want that to ever go away," Klar says.
His grandchildren still call it "Papa's Store," and that's how it will be
remembered. ❑

3/23

2001

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