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Paulsen's Pharmacy in the Hollywood District celebrates 100 year anniversary


{p}“You know your patients by a first name basis,” Balo said. “They walk through the door, you greet them. You know their families and their growing up, what they’re doing. You celebrate their joys, and you support them in their sorrows. “It’s part of your extended family. So it can get emotional sometimes.” (KATU){/p}

“You know your patients by a first name basis,” Balo said. “They walk through the door, you greet them. You know their families and their growing up, what they’re doing. You celebrate their joys, and you support them in their sorrows. “It’s part of your extended family. So it can get emotional sometimes.” (KATU)

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Paulsen's Pharmacy in the Hollywood district is celebrating 100 years at the same location this year.

KATU News caught up with a pharmacist and owner who spent 45 years dispensing drugs at Paulsen's.

The oldest surviving business in the district survived economic downturns and an eviction notice that nearly turned it into a fast food restaurant.

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The decor is vintage American pharmacy; turn of the century medications and palliatives get their own special display cases and shelves.

The old soda fountain even retains its iconic marble countertop.

But behind the counter it's a 21st century, modern pharmacy that serves Portland area hospices and a steady stream of regular customers.

Former owner and pharmacist Gary Balo spent nearly half of Paulsen’s pharmacy's existence behind the counter.

“It had a very unique character,”Balo said. “It was not like a chain store, sterile. And it had a lot of personality. A lot of history, a lot of charm.”

That charm turns 100 years old this year.

And much of what makes the place unique started with Charles Paulsen.

“He was an awesome individual,” Balo said. “He just had a certain charisma about him that you could tell people really loved him, he loved to work with his patients. And we tried to continue on with that same legacy.”

Balo finished pharmacy school at Oregon State University in 1970 and started at Paulsen’s in September of that year.

He stayed on for 45 years.

“You never know sometimes how the road’s going to lead you that way,” he said. “But here we are.”

He loved his work, he loved the atmosphere and he loved his customers

“You know your patients by a first name basis,” Balo said. “They walk through the door, you greet them. You know their families and their growing up, what they’re doing. You celebrate their joys, and you support them in their sorrows. It’s part of your extended family. So it can get emotional sometimes.”

All of that atmosphere nearly died in 1982 when the building owners planned to sell it to make way for a McDonald's.

Balo and his staff mounted a publicity campaign to stop it.

“The mind started turning and I lost a few sleepless nights thinking about ‘What are we going do to continue on?’”

Petitions were signed, and signs went up around the district.

Other businesses in the building left, while Paulsen's stood alone.

“The motto was, keep your buns out of Hollywood - I mean at least not on Sandy Boulevard,” he said. “After we were able to get that settled, resolved with with our landlord, then we helped put in some new tenants to help fill the building back up again.”

A week before Balo retired, the store was robbed at gunpoint.

Everyone was okay, and Paulsen's soldiered on.

Shortly thereafter, the new owner Gary Basrai took over.

An independent store lasting 100 years is a real milestone,” Basrai said. “We want to keep this in the community, we want to preserve this.”

Paulsen's will host a series of events to mark its centennial this year, including a health fair on October 6.

Gary Balo thinks the key to the pharmacy's survival is it's the village-like setting and its proximity to the Hollywood Theater.

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