Mar 7, 2009

Recession responses differBy Christian LivermoreRecordOnline.com

In trying to ride out the recession, two local businesses have taken opposite tacks. One has built its own building and taken on tenants; the other has consolidated to cut expenses.

Scott Mace opened Rock Hill Healthmart Pharmacy 4½ years ago upon the opening of Crystal Run Healthcare to capitalize on the patients who would be marching from the building with prescriptions in their fists. But he quickly outgrew the 1,200-square-foot space and about two years ago realized he had to move.

Being a Rock Hill resident, he cast his sights locally for a new space. When the recession hit, Mace was worried, but he decided his new plan would help, not hurt, his chances in the recession. He built a four-unit building. He put in his new 4,000-square-foot pharmacy; his wife, Diane Mace, put her shop, Miss Abigails Gift Shop, in the second space; Provident Bank moved into the third; and they’re negotiating with tenants for the fourth.

So is Mace worried about the economy dooming his enterprise?

“Nah. We have things that people will always need,” he said. “Everybody is going to need their prescriptions, everybody needs to do their banking, everybody needs to get a quality inexpensive gift.”

Mace is even planning an expansion — a closed-door pharmacy in the building’s basement to service nursing homes, which he said would allow him to hire another 10 or 12 people on top of the 12 he already employs.

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