Through five generations, through wars, revolution and displacement, the Dominguez family has filled prescriptions for countless thousands of people, first in Cuba and now in Perris.
It was the Cuban Revolution and the rise of Fidel Castro that caused the Dominguez family to flee their homeland and begin a circuitous journey that eventually landed them on Perris Boulevard.
Andres “Andy” Dominguez, who operates the pharmacy, said the family is grateful for the opportunity to re-establish their legacy in the City and is pleased to take part in Perris’ “Shop Local” program.
“We love being in the City of Perris,” Andy Dominguez said.
Veronica Arana, a City Redevelopment Project Coordinator, presents Andy Dominguez with a goody bag for taking part in the City’s “Shop Local” program.
“We like the people, the family atmosphere. We’ve been here for more than 15 years and we’re seeing a second generation in our customers. People who came to us at the beginning have had babies and now they are coming to see us. It’s a growing community and things have really been working out for us.”
More than 100 Perris merchants are taking part in the Shop Local program, which offers discounts to customers who present the distinctive red card. Perris residents and visitors can obtain the shop local card from the City’s website, www.cityofperris.org, take it to the participating merchants and start saving.
The City also has purchased hundreds of 30-second advertisements on a suite of channels, including Arts & Entertainment, Discovery, the Food Channel, CNN, Fox News and ESPN2. Media coverage about the program has included a story in the Press-Enterprise and a segment on KCAL-Channel 9.
The Dominguez Pharmacy story begins in the early 1900s, when brothers Andres and Antonio Dominguez moved from Seville, Spain, to Los Tunas, Cuba and started the business.
The original Dominguez Pharmacy was “proclaimed to be the best organized, efficient and productive public pharmacy in Cuba,” wrote Antonio Dominguez, Andy Dominguez’s father, in detailing the history of the business.
Antonio’s brother, Juan, was elected president of the Cuban Pharmaceutical Association in 1956.
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro nationalized all private businesses in the early 1960s, seizing the Dominguez family business without compensation.
The family emigrated to the U.S. in 1967.
Andy Dominguez holds an award the pharmacy received for outstanding customer service.
Antonio Dominguez eventually became a licensed pharmacist. Andy Dominguez graduated from USC in 1981, became a licensed pharmacist that year worked for Kaiser Permanente until 1994, when father and son opened their first location in Perris at the site of a former pet store. The business quickly outgrew the original location and in 1998, the pharmacy moved to its present address, 2055 North Perris Blvd.
“My American dream of opening a pharmacy in the United States was finally fulfilled,” Antonio Dominguez said.
Today, the pharmacy enjoys a thriving business. The staff is bi-lingual, which is a help since many customers prefer receiving directions about their medications in their native language. The staff also works with pharmacy students from Loma Linda University to help them get some on-the-job experience. And a new generation of Dominguezes is working at the pharmacy. Andy’s nephew, Derek Dominguez, is employed this summer during the annual break from classes in Hawaii.
“It was my father’s dream to open a new Dominguez Pharmacy like he had in Cuba,” Andy Dominguez said. “We are grateful to the City of Perris for helping us rekindle our American dream.”