Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 7, 1994 TAG: 9404070231
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: W-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's the sound of one of the services that distinguish the venerable pharmacy from its giant competitors.
The ice machine was built about 1925, and store owner Cameron Brooks said it probably is the only one of its kind in the Roanoke Valley.
The hand-operated apparatus transforms blocks of ice into shavings for the store's soda fountain. Brooks said many of his customers prefer the smooth shavings to ice cubes or crushed ice served at other establishments.
Brooks said he used to buy ice shavings from suppliers, but when they stopped producing shavings, he bought the shaver and now makes his own.
Keeping his customers happy is paramount for a small business faced with increasing competition from big corporations, Brooks said.
Brooks said his biggest competitors are Powell Pharmacy, another longtime downtown Salem business catering to the same clientele, and the chain-operated SuperX a mile or so away at Spartan Square.
The pharmacy departments of the giant discount stores - Wal-Mart and Kmart on West Main Street - "hurt some," Brooks said, but he does not regard them as primary competitors because they cater to different customers. Some people like the big discount stores, and others like smaller stores.
When it comes to being competitive, Brooks said service is the key for small businesses.
It's difficult to compete in price with the big companies, he said.
"But we can offer more services than they can, and delivery is the big one," he said, particularly for homebound elderly people.
Brooks-Byrd also has an emergency, after-hours prescription service, and it offers charge accounts to its regular customers.
Brooks-Byrd, with 12 employees, is in its original location on the southeast corner of Main and Broad streets, which Brooks calls the "center of downtown Salem."
A pharmacy has been in this spot since the late C.E. "Ted" Webber opened Webber's Pharmacy in 1925. It became Brooks-Byrd in 1959 when Ervin Brooks and I. Ray Byrd bought the store from Webber.
In 1982, Cameron Brooks began buying the store from his father and Byrd, and is now the sole owner.
In addition to charge accounts, delivery and shaved ice, Brooks offers another service - a friendly, homey atmosphere lacking in some big stores.
Brooks and his employees know the customers by name, and in many cases know of their family joys and troubles.
The customers also know they are dealing with an old-line Salem family. Brooks is a Salem native and a graduate of the University of Richmond and the Medical College of Virginia School of Pharmacy.
Brooks-Byrd Pharmacy is at 2 E. Main St., Salem. The phone number is 389-8111.
by CNB