NEW YORK (Reuters) – A pharmacy in New York’s Greenwich Village neighborhood is reeling from a coronavirus “punch in the face” but is determined to reach its third century, its owner said on Monday.
The Bigelow Apothecary has survived two world wars, the Sept 11 attacks, and the Great Recession of 2007-2009, but the economic hit from the COVID-19 pandemic has been its hardest challenge yet, said owner Ian Ginsberg.
“Mike Tyson says everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. And I think this is a big punch in the face,” Ginsberg said. “It’s going to be a little rough, but we’ll get through it, and everybody will pitch in.”
The pharmacy – or apothecary – was founded in 1838, according to a sign above the storefront. Its customers have included Eleanor Roosevelt, Mark Twain and Elvis Costello, according to a 2019 New York Times feature, which said Bigelow was considered by some to be the oldest pharmacy in the United States.
Workers on Monday wrapped Christmas gifts in paper and ribbon that bore the store’s logo in a 19th century font, as a resident cat looked on.
A rolling ladder affords access to higher shelves, where dusty bottles with cork stoppers bear labels like ‘Chloroform’ and ‘Strontium Bromide,’ a sense of the products it once offered.
More than 2,800 small businesses have closed in New York City since the pandemic’s outbreak. The Bigelow family business survives by keeping a lid on costs, Ginsberg said.
“We just all roll up our sleeves and we just get busy,” Ginsberg said. “This (pandemic) is probably the mother of all issues we faced.”
Greenwich Village resident Elizabeth Mazza said she has been coming to Bigelow Apothecary since the disco era.
“They take care of you forever,” she said.
(Reporting by Aleksandra Michalska, Writing by Nick Zieminski, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
