Laura Bonacorsi of Vancouver looks over the selection of merchandise while shopping at Hi-School Marketplace & Hardware on Thursday afternoon. The Minnehaha store is expected to cease operations by the end of the year. (Photos by Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
Hi-School Pharmacy’s roots in Vancouver stretch back to the early 1900s, when High School Store opened across the street from Vancouver High School on Main Street in downtown Vancouver.
The operation bloomed into a regional chain before shrinking in the early 2000s. Now the last Hi-School variety store in Vancouver is expected to close by the end of the year.
Vancouver businessman Steve Oliva, who built the Hi-School Pharmacy Inc. empire, sold all the brand’s Clark County stores to Walgreens Co. in 2003. After a decadelong noncompete agreement with Walgreens expired, Oliva’s successor, Hi-School Pharmacy & Affiliates President Jack Holt, opened the Minnehaha store at 3200 N.E. 52nd St. in 2015.
“To put that name back up on that building was really special,” said Rick Meyer, chief operations officer at Hi-School Pharmacy & Affiliates.
“There was a lot of pride in it,” Holt added.
Hi-School Pharmacy & Affiliates completely remodeled the Minnehaha store with new flooring and lighting. It became the template for all Hi-School Pharmacy stores going forward.
Vancouver’s variety of retail made competition difficult, Holt said. Customers just weren’t coming into the store.
“It’s a tough retail environment right now,” Holt said.
The corporate team closed the pharmacy at the Minnehaha location in 2022, leaving just the combination marketplace and hardware store.
“Even in good times when sales were OK, it’s just been a hard climb to make it as a retailer,” Holt said.
The Minnehaha store was burglarized several times. Most recently, thieves broke down the door to steal three boxes of candy bars. Holt’s team reconfigured the store to help prevent daytime retail theft.
“They just come and take what they want, and there’s not much you can do,” Holt said.
In all the cases reported to police at the Minnehaha location, there have been no arrests, he said.
With this closure, the brand is focusing on rural markets. The company isn’t expecting to open another location in Vancouver again.
“The rural town, where a lot of the time we are the only pharmacy or variety store in town, that seems to be where we can make a difference,” Holt said.
The company operates 16 pharmacy variety stores and 10 hardware stores in small communities around the Pacific Northwest, including Woodland, as well as Silverton and Scappoose in Oregon. The Silverton store is the brand’s busiest location.
The Minnehaha store is currently having a liquidation sale to sell off its merchandise. There’s no set date to close the location.
“It’s just until everything’s gone,” said Geni Fontyn, director of advertising at Hi-School Pharmacy.
The Vancouver-based Hi-School Pharmacy & Affiliates still operates three Ace Hardware stores in the county, as well as a closed-door pharmacy that sells primarily to assisted-living facilities.
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