When Bud Boone came to Demopolis in 1971 as a pharmacist at Food Fair, he did not know that his son Raymond would follow in his footsteps. He didn’t know that he and Raymond would work side-by-side at Food World’s pharmacy for several years or that the pharmacy would be a victim in Bruno’s bankruptcy declaration.

What neither Bud nor Raymond had envisioned was that they would be part of their own pharmacy, Boone’s Pharmacy, which officially opens on Monday. The pharmacy is located on the west side of the Chu Clinic building on U.S. Highway 80 West, next to Lu Lu’s.

Owning his own pharmacy was a lifelong dream for Raymond Boone, and while the path to attaining that dream was not the road he would have chosen, it all worked out well.

“This is a lifelong dream,” he said. “This is something we’ve always wanted to do. Learning underneath my dad has been fine, and to have him be a part of it is beyond a dream come true. It’s very special. His first words were, ‘Now, we can see our name up in lights.’ It’s great!”

Boone’s Pharmacy will be open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“We’ll be taking information and filling prescriptions all day Saturday (today) and for the rest of the week,” Raymond said. “We already started when people started coming in. We’re running test claims and making sure everything is working right.

“People can call us, and we can get their information over the phone. They can bring in their insurance cards, have doctors call prescriptions in, bring the prescription bottles themselves or call and tell us where their prescriptions are, and we can get them transferred over.”

Raymond said the best and easiest way for customers to bring their business would be for the customer to call the Boone’s Pharmacy at 289-8989 and let the pharmacy staff call the customer’s current pharmacy.

“That just simplifies everything,” Raymond said. “Starting the transfer process with us is just the best way.”

The Boone family pharmacy tradition continues in Demopolis with the opening of their own pharmacy in their hometown.