Thrifty White Drug / White Mart Department Store

Thrifty White Drug/White House Cafeteria

Thrifty White is an employee-owned regional pharmacy chain with 86 corporate locations in six states, in addition to affiliations held with independent pharmacies.

As of 2022, Bismarck was home to four Thrifty White Drug locations while Mandan was home to one. Its long-time downtown Bismarck store was located on the first floor of the Parkade until relocating to Kirkwood Mall‘s outlot in 2022 and previously housed The White House Cafeteria.

Founded in 1884 as White Drug in Jamestown, North Dakota, Thrifty White is a result of a merger between White Drug and Thrifty Drug of Brainerd, Minnesota in 1985. The company operates under the White Drug and Thrifty White banners and any variation of the combined names.

Recent History

The Mandan store recently announced plans to relocate from downtown to the north side of the city, near the new Walmart.

In 2015, long-time pharmacy retailer Northbrook Drug became Thrifty White Pharmacy. The pharmacy at Cash Wise Foods has also since converted to Thrifty White.

Its long-time location housed within Bismarck’s Parkade relocated to Kirkwood Mall’s outlot in June 2022. It was one of the last locations still branded with the historical “White Drug” banner and logo.

White Mart

Thrifty White also once operated a small chain of ten discount department stores across the Dakotas and Minnesota under the White Mart banner. The first White Mart opened in 1970 in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota. Both stores were collectively referred to as “White’s”. The discount arm was slowly faded out after the merger to concentrate on the company’s core drugstore operation, with the final locations closing in the early 1990s.

The Bismarck White Mart was an original anchor store for Gateway Mall when it opened in 1979 (White Mart itself didn’t open until February 1980), but closed in 1986, citing costs involved in converting the location to embrace the company’s new emphasis pharmacy operations.

External Link:

www.thriftywhite.com