LINCOLN SQUARE — At Merz Apothecary within the coronary heart of Lincoln Sq., giant show home windows accented with stained glass showcase apothecary artifacts alongside trendy merchandise.
Indicators set in classic typeface promote the enterprise’s legacy as a house for homeopathic medication, dietary supplements, magnificence merchandise, fragrances and extra since 1875.
Inside, amber-colored chandeliers forged a pleasing glow over picket counter tops and cabinets. Consumers are instantly greeted by the aroma of soaps and perfumes — and by employees asking in the event that they want any assist.
“It’s at all times been about customer support, ready on each buyer,” stated proprietor Abdul Qaiyum.
The apothecary at 4716 N. Lincoln Ave. run by the father-and-son duo is celebrating a uncommon milestone this summer season: 150 years in enterprise.
At a time when AI chatbots and social media influencers can overwhelm with info of doubtful origin and accuracy, Merz is a group useful resource, stated buyer Beth Francis, who was buying there Tuesday afternoon.
Francis and her husband dwell in Ohio however make an effort to swing by Merz every time they’re in Chicago visiting their daughter to replenish on merchandise they will’t discover again residence, she stated.
“My questions have at all times been answered. The steering that I get right here, I really feel like I’m going to a guru,” Francis stated. “It’s an precise, genuine connection.”
Buyer Dana Corridor stated he frequents the store a couple of instances a month as a result of the Qaiyums and their employees care simply as a lot about educating their purchasers as they do promoting them one thing.
“It’s like old-world-styled. It’s homeopathic,” Corridor stated. “You’ve loads of merchandise right here and methods of fascinated by well being care and caring for our personal our bodies that you just’re not going to search out in these different areas.
“However most significantly, I just like the care and the consideration that not solely the house owners present their staff and their prospects, however the information that they’ve in regards to the issues that they promote.”
What’s ironic is that Merz’s person-first strategy isn’t modern — it simply occurs to be en vogue once more due to shifts in client conduct, stated Dana Jasper, Merz’s senior retailer supervisor.
“We’re really doing one thing form of outdated and form of traditional,” Jasper stated. “That is how buying was once. … They crave that, and it’ll by no means go away.”
Filling Prescriptions — And A Need For Group
Pharmacist Peter Merz opened the doorways to the enterprise in 1875. Initially positioned at 2921 N. Lincoln Ave. in Lakeview, Merz needed to face out from different drugstores and selected to make use of the apothecary appellation as a nod to his Swiss-German roots.
In observe, this meant stocking and being knowledgable about natural medicines and conventional formulation in style with the store’s clientele, who have been primarily European immigrants.
A number of many years in, the apothecary turned referred to as a pharmacy the place you could possibly get a prescription crammed — and as a group hub the place prospects may catch up whereas studying extra about cures for frequent illnesses.
When Abdul Qaiyum, an immigrant from Pakistan and a registered pharmacist, purchased the enterprise from the Merz household in 1972, he stored that ethos. His son, Anthony Qaiyum, has carried that custom into the twenty first century whereas increasing the enterprise.
Anthony Qaiyum launched Smallflower.com along with his dad in 1998 for on-line prospects and acquired KOBO Candles, with a brick-and-mortar retailer and offsite warehouse, in 2021.
Prospects exploring alternate options to conventional cures and merchandise will often discover them at Merz, Anthony Qaiyum stated
“Western medication is wonderful. I’m not an individual that’ll say it’s not good. It does sure issues so nicely. However there are loads of power and longer-term points the place we don’t have nice, side-effect-free or simple, mild choices,” Anthony Qaiyum stated. “And our pharmacist, Olesya [Ruspynska], occurs to talk 4 languages. You’re going to have the ability to converse any language you need.”
Trying again, Abdul Qaiyum is amazed on the collection of occasions that led to his household turning into the store’s present stewards, he stated.
When Abdul Qaiyum got here to Chicago, he had little interest in turning into a pharmacist and ended up working at a sequence retailer. He knew of Merz Apothecary due to his brother-in-law; when its then-owner, Ralph Merz, was planning to retire, a neighbor requested if Abdul Qaiyum would contemplate taking it over, he stated.
“This little outdated girl that lived behind us, Mrs. Kip — she was about 100 years outdated, severely. And she or he was mates with Merz and referred to as me as a result of I’d met her a couple of instances at household gatherings,” he stated. “Having been introduced up with British affect, and whenever you did what your elders requested you to do, I stated, ‘OK.’
“I used to be there for like quarter-hour and fell in love with it.”
After agreeing to purchase the enterprise, Abdul Qaiyum drove a couple of blocks from the apothecary, then nonetheless positioned in Lakeview, to the workplace of Ralph Merz’s accountant to finalize paperwork.
The accountant was one other of Abdul Qaiyum’s neighbors that he’d waved to over the yard fence over time, although Qaiyum had no concept he was Ralph Merz’s accountant till he arrived at his workplace, he stated.
“Afterwards, I instructed Rita, my spouse, I stated, ‘I purchased a enterprise,’” Abdul Qaiyum stated.
The enterprise has been within the Qaiyum household ever since.
Discovering A Dwelling In Lincoln Sq.
The store moved to its present residence within the coronary heart of Lincoln Sq. in 1982; in 2014, it expanded into the storefront subsequent door. The transfer occurred as a result of the Lakeview location was bursting on the seams with prospects, and lugging containers up and down stairs was turning into extra of a trouble, Abdul Qaiyum stated.
“Proper round that point, I’m pissed off, saying, ‘God, I want it was simpler than what I’m doing,’” Abdul Qaiyum stated. “Harry Kempf walks in.”
Kempf was one of many house owners of the beloved and now-closed Lincoln Sq. restaurant Chicago Brauhaus.
“He shakes my hand and he says, ‘Abdul, your apothéke belongs in Lincoln Sq.,’” Abdul Qaiyum stated.
Initially, there wasn’t any actual property out there in Lincoln Sq.. However phrase shortly unfold that Merz Apothecary’s house owners have been on the lookout for a spot, which led to Rita Qaiyum touring the 4716 N. Lincoln Ave. location on a day her husband was busy with the store, Abdul Qaiyum stated.
The brand new location was certainly a lot bigger than the Lakeview store, nevertheless it wanted loads of work earlier than it may open, Abdul Qaiyum stated.
“‘When you’re keen to spend a complete lot of cash, it may come out to be very nice,’ she stated. My spouse is presented that method — she may image and visualize it,” Abdul Qaiyum stated. “If I’d have seen it earlier than her, I’d have by no means purchased it.”
After so a few years in enterprise, Abdul Qaiyum has obtained a particular honor.
Merz has the excellence of promoting extra digestive bitters from Rheinberg, Germany-based Underberg Bitters than some other retailer in the USA. Particular person bottles will be discovered at nook outlets and liquor shops within the metropolis, however solely Merz sells the bitters in distinctive, ornamental tins that showcase the winter holidays, Anthony Qaiyum stated.
And since Underberg and Merz have such a longstanding relationship, the bitters firm has launched a particular tin to have a good time the apothecary’s a hundred and fiftieth birthday, that includes an illustration of Abdul Qaiyum by designer Mark McGinnis.
The tin, out there whereas provides final, additionally celebrates different Chicago ephemera, Anthony and Abdul Qaiyum stated.
“Mark is a cool man,” Abdul Qaiyum stated. “Yearly, they make a distinct tin. However this 12 months, once they instructed me they have been going to make one with my face? I simply couldn’t. I may cry. Severely.”
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