BYRD WATSON CELEBRATES NEW LOCATION WITH RIBBON CUTTING

Byrd Watson Drug Co.

618-532-2200

790 W. McCord St., Centralia, IL

https://byrdwatsoncentralia.com/

Byrd Watson Drug Co. teamed with the Centralia Chamber of Commerce Tuesday to host a ribbon cutting in honor its new 790 W. McCord St. location.

The ribbon cutting was attended by Chamber members, officials with the City of Centralia, local news media, and Byrd Watson’s staff and affiliates.

The new location was opened last fall and was the result of collaboration between property owners Tyler and Traci Reuter, Byrd Watson, Bradford National Bank, and Johannes Construction. The four entities jointly broke ground on the new building in April 2025.

Owner Kim Weiter thanked those in attendance moments before the ribbon cutting, saying, “I just want to say thank you guys for coming. I do appreciate it. Last night I was thinking about where we were a year ago, and we weren’t even sure if we were building. So, it went quickly. I know a lot of you guys were involved in that process and I appreciate everybody’s help to get us to this point.”

Weiter noted that she and her new staff are enjoying their new setup and the building has received a warm response from the community.

“We are loving the new building, and we are loving the new business that it is drawing,” Weiter said. “Thank you all for coming and thank you for your support.”

Chamber Membership Director Matthew Packman added that the collaboration between the Reuters, Byrd Watson, Bradford National Bank, and Johannes Construction is a great of example of inspiring connection and progress in the community.

“I love the story of how this building came about, because it’s what we at the Chamber talk about with Inspire Progress and Inspire Connection,” said Packman. “When you have community-driven investors and businesses that come together, we have something wonderful like this in our community.”

City Manager Galen Mahle also spoke on the process of creating the new building and the outstanding results of those collaborations.

“Thanks for everyone that has been involved in this process,” Mahle said, adding that the building project was one of his first conversations upon taking on the role of city manager. “Tyler called and said ‘Hey, we have this idea. We’re not even sure it’s going to work, but can we discuss it?’ One year later we are here in this beautiful building with a pharmacy that is expanding and able to offer new things to customers.”

Thie historic Byrd Watson Drug Co. will be honored Thursday at the Celebrate Progress - Annual Banquet for its 120 years in the community.