Cañon City’s Palace Drug Store is the Cheers of southern Colorado pharmacies — it’s a place where everybody knows your name. Owner Dr. William Shelver says personal service is what has kept the independent pharmacy afloat in an industry crowded with chain stores.
“We have a lot of dedicated customers, and we try to go above and beyond for them,” Shelver says. “I think they really appreciate that, and we really appreciate them. A good, symbiotic relationship with our customers is really how we do it.”
As a business that bills itself as “a modern pharmacy with old-school values,” Palace Drug offers a wide selection of the over-the-counter items commonly found in drug stores, plus in-person and online pharmacy services and extras like home delivery, immunizations, medication therapy management, wellness educational videos and assistance with Medicare insurance enrollment.
The “old school” term is used advisedly: Palace Drug has been serving customers since 1880. First located at 432 Main St., the original owner, George Pedley, relocated the store to 405 Main St. in 1899. Subsequent owners moved it to 601 Main St. The store passed through several sets of hands until 1991, when Bill Masse purchased it.
Originally from North Dakota, Shelver graduated from high school in Cotopaxi, a tiny town west of Cañon City. After graduation, he says, he “traveled around and did various things” until he decided to go to pharmacy school at the University of Colorado.
“I worked in a lot of the larger corporate-type stores,” he says. “They’re not really focused on the patients, and they treat their employees not so great. That trickles down — an unhappy employee takes it out on the customers, which makes the customers unhappy.”
Shelver interned at the Palace Drug Store in 2006. When he arrived, “the owner was standing right there behind the counter, and he cared more than anybody about the patients. That kind of knocked me back at first — I didn’t think that was even a possibility in pharmacy. You don’t see that kind of caring or empathy from a lot of pharmacists or technicians. I just fell in love with the store and the customers.”
Toward the end of his internship, he recalls talking with his mother and saying he would love to own a store like Palace Drug someday.
“A week or two later, Mr. Masse took me to lunch and asked if I’d be interested in continuing to work there and purchase into the store and eventually own it,” he says. “Of course, I jumped at the opportunity.”
In May 2007, Shelver graduated with a doctor of pharmacy degree, went to work for Masse and bought stock in the company. He took over the business as sole owner in 2020.
By then, the store had gained a lot of customers in the Westcliffe-Silver Cliff area, and Palace Drug was delivering prescriptions to many of them. Shelver opened a second store at 94 Main St. in Silver Cliff. Between the two, he employs 25 people.
“We don’t have a million dollars of advertising,” he says. “You’re not going to see our commercials on ‘Monday Night Football.’ Word of mouth is our biggest advertisement.”
Shelver says he frequently sees people posting on social media about unpleasant experiences at other pharmacies and asking for recommendations.
“I would venture to say that 80 to 90% of the comments are, ‘Try Palace Drug, they’re wonderful,’” he says. “That really puts a smile on my face.”
In fact, locals have voted Palace Drug the best pharmacy in Fremont County for the past 17 years.
In the 18 years since he’s been at Palace Drug, Shelver has seen ups and downs in the area. He has seen businesses open and close, and times when there were vacant storefronts along Main Street. But it’s a lot busier now than when he first started, he says, and he is proud to be part of Main Street’s renaissance.
“I would love to see every storefront filled with a mom-and-pop store — a clothing store and a shoe store, and all the stores that I remember when I was a kid, but I don’t think that’s possible anymore,” he says. “In lieu of that, I think what needs to continue is Main Street filling with more high-quality restaurants and the kind of stuff that will draw people to Main Street instead of the fast-food alley on Highway 50.
“I’m just blessed to have my time in the Palace’s history,” he says. “It’s way bigger than myself, and I hope it continues long after I’m gone.”
