Tobin's Oconomowoc

Tobin’s Pharmacy was founded in 1913 by Frank Tobin, a registered pharmacist, in downtown Burlington, Wisconsin. Mr. Tobin sold his store in 1951 to Leonard Gums who in turn sold it to Don Schultz and Art McCourt in 1962. Don, an astute businessman, eventually expanded the small corner drug store into a chain of six stores throughout Southeastern Wisconsin. In 1981, Don retired and sold all but the Oconomowoc location which he kept for his two sons, Doug and Dave to manage.

Don’s sons grew up steeped in the pharmacy business; there was never much of a decision to be made about what career each would pursue. Both Doug and Dave graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, then went straight to work in one of their father’s stores. In 1981, both of Don’s sons and their families relocated to the Lake Country area to run the Oconomowoc location. In the early years, and until 2004, both Doug and Dave worked as pharmacists in their store. Since then, Doug has relinquished his pharmacy duties to focus on overall store management and the hearing aid business. Besides being a pharmacist, Doug is also a licensed hearing instrument specialist. Dave now manages the pharmacy and nutritional side of the store’s business, placing special emphasis on educating patients about what they can do to maintain optimal health.

For 25 years, Tobin’s was located at 201 N. Fowler Street in Oconomowoc. In April of 2006, Doug and Dave relocated the store to its current 22,000 s.f. location on Brown Street. The building was designed and built specifically for Tobin’s, which employs 48 people, including Doug’s wife, Ruth, also a pharmacist and clinical nutritionist, and Dave’s wife, Shirley, who serves as a buyer for the store’s children and gift departments.

In December 2013, Tobin’s celebrated its 100th anniversary. The business has succeeded because we work long hours, we provide quality products at a fair price and we treat customers and patients like friends and family.

We hope you have an incredible shopping experience at Tobin’s!