Marseilles pharmacist Gene Carlson retires after 47 years at Schott’s Pharmacy

Odds are, Schott’s Pharmacy in Marseilles will be missing a familiar face the next time a customer walks through the doors to get their prescriptions now pharmacist Gene Carlson has called it a career after 47 years.

While Carlson still is consulting and stopping in every now and then at the pharmacy, he said he’s fully retired, and happy with the ability to wake up every morning and do whatever he wants.

Carlson said retirement has been on the horizon for awhile now but he didn’t want to sell Schott’s to have it either lose its name or close. When he received an offer from a company, OneroRx, that would keep all of Schott’s employees and maintain the store’s name, he went with it.

“And I stuck around for a few months after the sale to make sure things went over smoothly but it’s hard being the boss for 40 years, then having someone to answer to,” Carlson said.

Carlson said he had customers from all over because Schott’s is able to provide services many of the chain pharmacies can’t or don’t. He learned compounding about 30 years ago so he can make the medicine in the store, and he also went out of his way to understand supplements after a few customers stopped in to ask him about them.

“Pharmacists are in a special position,” Carlson said. “If you’re a pharmacist, you’re a biology major, a chemistry major, a physiology major and pharmacology major all at once. You understand all those sciences, so we know how the body works and what it’s doing.”

He said sometimes people would come in with questions about CBD because they have pain in their joints but after talking to them for a bit, it’s not CBD they need.

He’s been able to pass knowledge to new pharmacists, as well. For the better part of the last 35 years, Schott’s has taught student pharmacists that are now working throughout the area.

“It’s great because they come in with all this knowledge fresh out of school,” Carlson said. “Then I get to hear them start talking like a pharmacist and talking to customers like a pharmacist, explaining things they may not understand from the doctor in a way that makes sense.”

Carlson said he’s going to enjoy the fruits of his labor now that he’s no longer tied to his business. He has more time to golf and travel, and cross-country ski in the winter.

Much has changed since Carlson and his partners took over in 1974: When he began his career, business interactions were conducted with pens, paper and typewriters. He remembers it being a big deal when pharmacists switched to electric typewriters, and an even bigger deal when the industry switched to computers in the mid-1980s.

The computers ran on DOS with black-and-white screens, and Carlson said back-up information was placed on floppy disks the size of pieces of paper. It took more than 40 minutes to create backups.

One factor, he noted, that played into his retirement is it’s becoming time again to update his system, and an update like that usually takes years, not months, to make up for the costs.

In the meantime, Schott’s Pharmacy in Marseilles remains open under the control of the same pharmacists Carlson has worked with even though the pharmacy is under a new umbrella. He wanted to ensure the tradition he started continued.

Celebrate Gene Carlson’s career

A retirement party is scheduled 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 5, at the Lions Club, 511 Commercial St., Marseilles to celebrate Gene Carlson’s career as a pharmacist.