‘We will rebuild:’ Customers heartbroken after fire destroys historic Forsyth County drug store

CUMMING, Ga. — The owner of a historic community drug store gave Channel 2 Action News a tour and showed us how a fire destroyed everything inside. The Goodson Drug Company has served the Forsyth community for nearly 70 years.

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People who’ve been coming to the drug store for decades say it dispensed more than medicine.

“They get you what you need. They take care of you that’s for sure,” Bonnie Hagin told Channel 2′s Tom Jones.

“It’s just wrecked,” owner Lee Goodson told Jones during a tour of the store on W. Maple Street in downtown Cumming.

Everyone is heartbroken. This community jewel has suffered a setback.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. Even now, I can’t wrap my head around it,” Goodson said.

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Hagin says when she got the news a fire destroyed the store, she was shocked.

“It broke my heart,” Hagin said.

Pharmacy technician Karey Hughes has worked at the store since she was 14. She’s now 40. When she saw all the damage it left her emotionally disturbed.

“Sadness. It’s devastating,” Hughes said.

The drug store has served this community since 1959. Customers say the workers are like family. They say they’ll even order hard-to-find medication.

“If you couldn’t find it somewhere else they always had it here,” customer Steve Flora said.

Goodson says he closed the store around 5:30 Sunday evening. An hour and a half later the store somehow caught fire.

“That’s where they cut it out to let the smoke out,” Goodson said, showing Jones a huge hole in the roof.

Everything inside was destroyed.

“I’m sure we can’t dispense any of the medication in here because we can’t guarantee it’s safe. So we’ll have to lose all that,” Goodson said.

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Customers had questions about where to go to get their prescriptions.

“What about the computer system holding all everybody’s records? Did the hard drives burn,” Flora asked.

Goodson says not to worry.

“We haven’t lost any of our records. We have our off-site backup. It went fine,” Hughes said.

Hughes says it’s tough seeing the store like this. But she says it won’t be this way for long.

“I know that we will rebuild and be back,” she said confidently.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The owner hopes to find another location to operate until the store can be rebuilt.

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