David Bradstock greets everyone who walks into the warmly lit Morrison Pharmacy by their first name, chatting with them as if they had just run into one another on the sidewalk.

Now in his fifth decade working there, the licensed pharmacist and small business owner says he doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.

“I perform a service that has a lot of value, because there’s nobody that does it like we do,” he said. “Plus, I work with my daughter, so it’s an advantage to me, I get to see her five days a week. I might’ve walked away a long time ago if not for that.”

His daughter, Jordan Morrison, had worked on and off at the business as a teenager and young adult, but has been full time for over 10 years. When she first started working at the pharmacy, she was afraid to pick up the phone, but over time she learned the ropes.

“You get people who are coming in three times a week, someone who comes in once a month–you get to know them,” she said. “It’s like you learn to speak their language.”

Working as a team, they’ve been able to navigate all of the changes to the industry–and to small business ownership– that have come over the years.

Since the last time RoxboroughPA.com checked in with the business in February 2020, they’ve navigated a slew of changes to not only their industry, but to small business ownership and the world, too.

That includes offering free delivery since the first COVID-19 lockdowns, as well as the fast, friendly service that their brick-and-mortar location is valued for.

“We’ve seen a lot of new faces since the pandemic because people are just tired of CVS,” Jordan Morrison said. “They’re not putting up with crappy service.”

But, because big chains are often vertically integrated with their own pharmacies, it can be harder for small businesses to compete. An ongoing pharmacist shortage also makes it more difficult for the Bradstocks to hire qualified staff, and can mean that they have to spend more time behind the counter. David Bradstock estimates that he works between 58 and 68 hours every week.

“You just do what you’ve got to do,” he said.

That dedication has a legacy, stretching back over a century and a half to 1859, when James R. Morrison started the business. It stayed with the Morrison family for over 100 years, with generations of Roxborough residents going to the Morrisons for medication and health advice.

But, by the late 1970s, the Morrison family found that they didn't have any descendants willing to take over the business. David Bradstock was just a recent pharmacy school graduate, but had worked there for several years.

“I didn’t have two nickels to rub together,” he said. The soon to retire James Morrison III said that if Bradstock could get money for a down payment, he could finance the rest– so Bradstock did just that.

“I just never left,” he said.

After five decades, Bradstock doesn't plan on going anywhere. “It’s all I know. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”