History

Peoples Drug was founded by Malcolm Gibbs in 1904, and by 1930 had 110 stores operating under Peoples Drugs, Days Drug, and Shearer Drug names. There were variations of the name, with Peoples Service Drug, and Gibbs Peoples Drug being most common.

In 1970, Peoples had 252 stores operating in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, New York, and New Jersey. That year there were 5,500 employees, with sales of $220 million and profits of $1.87 million. By 1975, Peoples had grown to 500 stores. Later in the year, the chain was purchased by Lane Drug of Toledo, Ohio.,, The new company retained the Peoples name, and included Lane Drug, Schuman Drug, Dynamic Drug, Health Mart, Reed Drug, and Lee Drug. Lane president Sheldon "Bud" Fantle took over the presidency of the chain and went to work on improving merchandising and customer service at People's. In 1985, two 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) “Bud’s Deep Discount Drug Stores” were opened in the Toledo area, with others in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The name “Bud’s” was derived from the nickname of Sheldon “Bud” Fantle. In January, 1987, Mr. Fantle left Peoples and later took control of troubled Dart Drug in Washington DC, renaming those stores Fantle's.