MANDEVILLE, Manchester – The family name, Haughton, is well known in this south-central town.

And rightly so, as the now fourth-generation Haughton’s Pharmacy is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a track record of not just pharmaceutical service, but community service.

Stafford Haughton, a third-generation proprietor in the family business, speaks with authority regarding his family’s commitment to community.

“It is a tradition of service. I saw my father serve like nobody’s business,” he told the Jamaica Observer by telephone, just a few days ahead of a celebratory service last Sunday, at the Mandeville Parish Church.

“My father was not only a druggist [pharmacist], he was also a justice of the peace (JP) and people came to him to sign all kinds of documents, and he never turned not one soul away,” Haughton, also a JP, said.

“I am now a JP, so I fall into the same category of giving that service. The first location [for Haughton’s Pharmacy] was right opposite the market, so it was an easily accessible place,” he added.

Haughton’s grandfather, Richard Henry Haughton, moved to Mandeville in 1920 to start what was then called the Manchester Drug Store – believed to be the first of its kind in the town.

The elder Haughton died in 1927 and Elsie Bailey succeeded him as manager until Dudley Arlington Seymour Haughton, his eldest son, qualified as a druggist and took over the business in 1928.

Dudley Haughton, who is Stafford’s father, soon thereafter expanded the business with a second store bearing the family name at 18 West Park Crescent, not far from the first location.

Stafford Haughton relishes the memory of his father and his service to community both as pharmacist and leading citizen.

“Lots of people [including] the local market folk and the out-of-town market folk came there… [people] from Clarendon, St Ann, Trelawny and St Elizabeth came to the market there and over the years you build up a clientele,” he said.

“People still remember my father like they know me. People come to the pharmacy and say their elder relatives used to shop at the pharmacy,” he added.

He highlighted the importance of what is known as the 80/20 rule of sales.

“There is a statistic that 20 per cent of your customers give you 80 per cent of your business, and because we have that reputation of service, people know you and know of the kind of service that you give,” he said.

“The best advertising is when your customers talk about you. There has never been a break in this consistent service. This is what has maintained us and given us the strength to go through these tough times,” he added.

He recalled being the first pharmacist to be elected to the House of Representatives serving two terms in the Edward Seaga-led Jamaica Labour Party Administration of 1980 to 1989 as Member of Parliament for Manchester North Western.

Haughton’s Pharmacy relocated to its current location at Shop #1, Caledonia Courts Plaza, 29-31 Caledonia Road, Mandeville, in 2008, and today, Stafford Haughton is still chief pharmacist. He has so far contributed 55 years to the pharmaceutical industry, including 51 years dedicated to the family pharmacy business.

But, while he remains active at the pharmacy in Mandeville, he has relinquished leadership to his daughter, Francine.

She told the Sunday Observer of the opportunities for growth through e-commerce.

“As Jamaica navigates the new realities of global pandemics, local communities will depend more heavily on essential services, and the pharmaceutical industry will be integral to the solution to such crises. Pharmacists have their role to play and the future of the pharmacy business will be the convenience of online services and deliveries,” she said.

“Haughton’s Pharmacy sees the opportunity for growth and expansion through the e-commerce digital space as new and exciting. Online shopping, mobile apps and other innovative products are all a part of pivoting towards the future, and it is the intention of Haughton’s Pharmacy to remain committed to its core values of family, pharmacy and tradition, while charting the course towards health and wellness,” she added.