“Heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking.” That’s how Howie Cohen felt when Bartell Drugs faded into local history this year, with new owner CVS announcing the rebrand of the chain’s last 20 stores. He wasn’t just a local who loved his hometown corner store and pharmacy; Seattle-born Cohen had worked at Bartell’s since he was 18. He rose from cashier to store manager and eventually a chain-wide category manager who found, bought, and dreamed up specialty items for the store’s iconic gift aisle.
Once the country’s oldest family-owned drugstore chain—Bartell’s was founded a year after Washington statehood—the store always carried goofier gifts and wilder candies than any boring national brand. Cohen found
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