Muir's Closes – January 8, 1964

Muir’s Scottish mascot frolicking in a Dec. 1946 ad

I look through a lot of microfilm for this blog, and get used to seeing ads for specific stores or businesses that ran over the span of many decades starting in the 1920s. These stores seem to have incredible runs, thanks to loyal Lorain shoppers.

Many of them were regional stores, rather than one-shot Mom & Pop endeavors, but they were still part of the fabric of the life of Lorainites.

And then, usually around the 1960s, they closed for various reasons or went out of business. It was part of an unfortunate trend that eventually helped put Lorain in its current dismal shape business-wise.

One of these stores was Muir’s Drug Store. (I profiled the company back here in October 2016.)

It was back on January 8, 1964 that the ad below ran in the Lorain Journal announcing its ‘Going Out of Business Sale.’

Apparently it was big enough news to warrant some news coverage since the Lorain store was the first in the chain. Here’s the story as it appeared in the paper on the same day.

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Muir Announces Closing Of Drug Store in Lorain

Muir’s Self Serve Drug Store, 758 Broadway, original parent unit of the 30-store Muir chain, is closing shop about Jan. 15.

Charles White, field supervisor for the Grand Rapids, Mich., headquarters of the company, announced the decision to discontinue the 42-year-old Lorain store.

It was in 1922 that Boyce K. Muir and his father, John Muir, started the drug outlet, at that time located in the 500 block on the west side of Broadway.

Kenneth Muir, a brother, also worked at the Lorain store. A store was also established in Elyria.

Within a few years main offices, warehouses and a manufacturing plant were erected in Grand Rapids.

White said the Lorain store is being discontinued because the company is concentrating its operation closer to the main offices, and because the Lorain unit was the extreme eastern store, and off the main distribution routes.

In recent years, he said Muir’s has turned to larger sized outlets in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and western Ohio.

In behalf of the company he expressed appreciation to the people of Lorain for their patronage over the years, and said the company is sorry to leave.

Mike Murphy, who has been with the organization for five years, has been manager of the Lorain store for the past year.

Persons who have brought in films for development are asked to pick up the finished pictures at their earliest convenience.

At one time there were four Muir stores in this area. The Elyria store was discontinued some time ago. The Lorain store has been at its present location for 12 years.

When established in 1922, Muir’s was known as the Muir Cut Rate Drug Store and was one of the first cut rate outlets.

The move leaves Lorain with three downtown drug stores, one at 8th St. and two in the Fourth-Fifth St. area.