Charles Fanaras immigrated to the United States from Greece in 1923. After working at various restaurants for two years, he opened his first restaurant in Concord, NH. It was called the Boston Lunch, and was located at the corner of Bridge and North Main Street. Four years later he sold the Boston Lunch and opened the Puritan Restaurant, which was also located on North Main Street. In 1937, he moved the Puritan Restaurant to another North Main Street location and renamed it the Concord Café. In 1946 he sold the Concord Café and semi-retired. In 1948, he opened Fanaras’ Restaurant at the present location of The Prescription Center.

On September 21, 1951 his son John converted the restaurant into Fanaras’ Pharmacy and retained the soda fountain and lunch counter, which was the norm for pharmacies of that era. John operated the pharmacy until 1969 when an Urban Renewal project demolished the building that housed the pharmacy. Both Fanaras’ pharmacy and Fortier’s Pharmacy, located just three blocks away, were both demolished. John Fanaras and Kenneth Fortier formed a partnership and opened The Prescription Center Pharmacy at the Fortier’s Pharmacy location. They then purchased the land from the Urban Renewal Agency and built the present building on the corner of North Main Street and Centre Street that houses the current Prescription Center Pharmacy. The Prescription Center opened for business at this location in 1970. In 1973 the Prescription Center purchased Davis Drug Store, located on the corner of Warren Street and North State Street, across from the YMCA and integrated it into the Prescription Center. In 1975 the Corner Pharmacy, which as located on the corner of North Main Street and Depot Street was purchased and integrated into The Prescription Center.

In 1989 Charles Fanaras, John’s son, purchased The Prescription Center and continues to operate it today. In 1991 Charles was approached by the McKerley brothers, operators of 15 nursing homes, to create a pharmacy dedicated to servicing long term care facilities. The Prescription Center had been servicing local nursing homes since 1970 and one of those facilities was the McKerley Nursing Home on Maitland Street. The partnership between Charles Fanaras and Forrest, James and Matthew McKerley formed Accumed Pharmacy which grew to servicing all of the McKerley Nursing homes as well as many others throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. Accumed was a pharmacy that took on the personality of its owners and was a forward thinking pharmacy that embraced the use of technology to improve the drug delivery systems, drug administration systems and clinical systems to the nursing homes they served. In 1995 the McKerley brothers retired and sold their nursing homes and Accumed was sold to the same company. In 2001 The Prescription Center became the first pharmacy in the State of NH to utilize robotics in the prescription filling process. This immediately increased our efficiency and allowed our Pharmacist more time to spend with our patients.

Charles continued to service group homes and other various facilities through The Prescription Center and as word spread more and more facilities desired a pharmacy that understood the unique needs of their facilities. New regulations were making medication management more challenging for facilities and understanding that The Prescription Center found itself growing a diverse patient demographic. In 2004 The Prescription Center purchased Capital Pharmacy from Concord Hospital. Charles was involved in the initial design and setup of Capital Pharmacy and when the opportunity to purchase the pharmacy presented itself it was a natural fit. The philosophies of Concord Hospital and The Prescription Center are similarly aligned and both enjoy a great working relationship. Currently Concord Hospital and The Prescription Center have embarked on a Bedside Delivery program called “Meds to Beds” designed to help reduce hospital readmissions. 2004 became a very busy year, Charles decided that the time had come to create another pharmacy specifically designed and devoted to the Assisted Living Facilities and Group Homes that had become such a large part of The Prescription Center. In September of 2004 Northeast Pharmacy opened for business right above The Prescription Center. Northeast Pharmacy uses robotics that prepackage medications in a uniquely labeled packet by administration time. This has allowed for the efficient administration of medications and a large decrease in medication errors and waste. Northeast Pharmacy also utilizes robotics to aid the Pharmacist in the final checking process. Each packet is barcoded and photographed and computer software reads the barcode and compares the various medication contained in each packet with the photograph, a kind of optical character recognition for medications. Northeast Pharmacy has become most technologically advanced Pharmacy in the State of NH. In December of 2004 The Prescription Center expanded once again to open our apothecary designed store at the medical office building as Horseshoe Pond.

Members of the Fanaras family have been doing business at the intersection of North Main, Bridge and Centre Streets since 1925. So far three generations of the family have plied their trade on this corner. Charles has two sons, John and Michael, that are presently attending the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy (MCPHS University) in Boston. Perhaps it will be 4 generations on this corner in the near future.