Read's Drug Store

Read's Drug Store was a chain of stores based in Baltimore, Maryland. Read's Drug Store was founded by William Read. He sold it to the Nattans family in 1899.^[1] The downtown store was constructed in 1934 by Smith & May, Baltimore architects also responsible for the Bank of America building at 10 Light St.^[2] In 1929, one company slogan was "Run Right to Reads."^[3] Read's was purchased from the Nattans by Rite Aid in 1983.^{[citation needed]}

In 2023, Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid several opioid lawsuits and declining sales.^[4] Despite Read's shutting down 40 years prior to the filing, Read's was still listed in the bankruptcy filing.^[5]

The downtown store was the site of an early sit-in during the Civil Rights Movement. Read's downtown Baltimore location has since closed, leaving behind an empty building. There is currently a controversy over whether to raze this building for development or preserve it and turn it into a civil rights museum. The store's 1955 sit-in also occurred five years before the more recognized, but also similar, student-led 1960 Greensboro sit-ins.^[6]