New pharmacy opens doors on Marengo town square

By NICK NARIGON

Jennica Yatskis, left, the pharmacist at Cornerstone Apothecary, helps a customer over the phone while lab technician Deb Davidson fills a prescription. Yatskis will work at the pharmacy Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday. Co-owner and pharmacist Bethany Hoopes will work at the store Wednesday only.

When walking into Cornerstone Apothecary, visitors are greeted as if they walked into the next door neighbor’s house to borrow a cup of sugar.

That is exactly the kind of pharmacy owners Bethany Hoopes and Sara Hoskins want to operate.

“We want to create an atmosphere that people are comfortable in,” Hoopes said. "I don’t like a stark, sterile, medicine-y place. I like a homey atmosphere and the customers prefer the small town service.”

Hoopes and Hoskins opened Cornerstone Apothecary, 1099 Court Ave., Marengo, March 26.

The duo have run the original Cornerstone Apothecary in Van Horne since 2007, and Hoopes said several customers have urged her to open another store in Marengo.

They started looking at locations in Marengo last fall, and found a hidden gem in the former Iowa County Extension office, located on the north end of the Gode building.

Hoopes and Hoskins rent the space from Dr. James and Jolene Demro, who allowed them to make any renovations they wanted, so long as Hoopes and Hoskins paid for them.

Hoopes husband, Henry Hoopes, did most of the renovations himself, which turned out to be quite extensive. He removed the drop ceiling, office walls and carpeting to expose the original hardwood floor and tin ceiling.

The floor was refinished, the ceiling repaired and painted and Mud Master did the dry wall. The walls were then painted an earthy green, the same as in the Van Horne store. All new duct-work was also installed.

Once they were done, the 1,400 square foot room with 15-feet high walls left one large, historically intact room ready to be filled.

The pharmacy area takes up about a third of the room and was updated with modern technology as well as carpeting. Unlike chain store pharmacies, Cornerstone’s pharmacy is wide open so the pharmacists can greet the customers.

Hoopes said while Cornerstone Apothecary provides the usual over-the-counter selections and prescriptions as other pharmacies, their niche is their home décor gifts.

Cornerstone Apothecary, 1099 Court Ave, Marengo, located in the Gode building, opened to the public March 26.

The store sells wrought-iron tables and chairs and higher end home decorations such as signs, mirrors and candles.

Cornerstone also sells gifts and cards and offers free coffee – a different flavor every day.

“We thought it would be nice for Marengo to have a specialty shop. They don’t have a place with a home décor niche,” Hoopes said.

The reception from the town has been welcoming, she said.

“It is much more successful than anticipated. Even in this economy it is really going well,” Hoopes said. “It is nice to give people another option.”

Hoopes is the pharmacist at the Van Horne store and will be at Cornerstone Apothecary in Marengo Wednesdays only.

They hired Jennica Yatskis to serve as the pharmacist in Marengo for the rest of the week. Deb Davidson was also hired as a full-time lab technician in the Marengo store.

“Jennica is really good,” Hoopes said. “She is just an awesome person and she’s a huge asset to us.”

Yatskis, who worked for Pharmerica in Coralville before coming to Cornerstone Jan. 15, said it was a no-brainer to take the position in Marengo.

“I knew I would like them right away,” Yatskis said. “My parents came down and we walked into the Van Horne store. It smelled nice, and had a pleasant color with non-florescent lights. It was more homey, and not stark white like in the box stores. I had never seen anything like it.”

Yatskis also said the customers in Marengo have been very personable, though she said she is still learning names.

“We want to give personal service in a relaxed atmosphere,” Yatskis said. “Customers can come in with any questions and we want to be able to help them out.”

Hoopes said Cornerstone Apothecary held a soft opening to work the kinks out and they plan to do a grand opening during the Marengo Sesquicentennial celebration in July.

Cornerstone Apothecary is open Monday through Wednesday and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Contact Cornerstone Apothecary at (319) 741-6300.

MEET THE PHARMACISTS

Bethany Hoopes, Van Horne, will work at Cornerstone Apothecary Wednesday only. She is the co-owner of the business with Sarah Hoskins, Cedar Rapids.

Beth is from Cherokee originally and graduated from the University of Iowa School of Pharmacy in 2002.

She and her husband, Henry Hoopes, have two children ages 4 and 5, and she just found out a third child is on the way.

Jennica Yatskis, Fairfax, will work at Cornerstone Apothecary Monday and Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday.

Jennica is from Steele, N.D., a town of 800. She graduated from North Dakota State, Fargo, in 2006 with her degree in pharmacy. Her husband, Paul, works for Rockwell-Collins as an engineer, and they moved to Fairfax in 2006.

UPDATED April 8, 2009 10:52 AM