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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
SEATTLE—The Bartell Drug Company, the nation’s oldest drugstore chain, was named second runner up for the 2002 National Family Business Award in the Large Business Category, sponsored by MassMutual.
Selected as second runner up in the Large Business category, which spotlights businesses with 250 or more employees, the family-owned, Seattle-based chain was honored based on several criteria: business success, positive links between family and business, multiple generations of involvement, contributions to their communities and industries, and innovative business practices and strategies.
MassMutual’s National Family Business of the Year Award was established in 1994. Nominations for the National Award come from state awards programs staged by family business centers across the country. In 2001, Bartell Drugs won the Washington State Family Business of the year award in the Heritage Category. The Washington State Family Business Awards are sponsored by the Family Enterprise Institute of Pacific Lutheran University.
“It is only through the outstanding support and terrific customer service provided by more than 1,600 Bartell Drugs employee associates that we are able to be one of the best in the nation,” said George D. Bartell, chairman and CEO of the company and grandson of the founder, George H. Bartell, Sr.
The company currently owns and operates 51 stores in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.
The history of the Bartell Drug Company spans three generations of family leadership over 112 years. The company’s 21-year-old founder, George H. Bartell, Sr., purchased the Lake Washington Pharmacy in Seattle in 1890 and soon built the company through expansion into Seattle’s neighborhoods and downtown locations. George H. Jr., who still visits his office daily, was elected president of the company in 1939. George D. Bartell, after learning the business from the ground up, was elected president and CEO in 1990. His sister, Jean Bartell Barber, is CFO of the company.
Community involvement has always been an integral part of the way Bartell Drugs does business. Annually, the company supports over 70 local organizations and events, which promote health education and awareness as well as family entertainment.
The company has also been a leader in customer convenience features and innovations, including the first soda fountains in the West, the first drugstore in a major regional shopping center (Seattle’s Northgate Mall), Seattle’s first 24-hour drugstore, onsite one-hour photo processing, drive-through pharmacies and other features
The Bartell Drug Company is the nation’s oldest drugstore chain. The family-owned company has 50 stores in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties.
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