When asked why he was so successful, Doug Kosobayashi, (1938-present) owner/partner of the Berry and Sweeney Pharmacy on N. Fair Oaks Ave, was quick to say it was because of his relationship with his African American business partner Billie Williams. He added that it's probably one of the biggest accomplishments of his life and is something he is proud of. It was a novelty to have a Japanese American and African American team up to start a business. Asked how he met his partner, Kosobayashi said it was their boss, a wonderful Jewish man named Art Weinberger, who encouraged them to become partners. Weinberger owned the Raymond Drugstore, which merged with Berry and Sweeney around 1955. Williams and Kosobayashi had both worked for him delivering medicine to homes in Pasadena and knew the business quite well before they became partners.
Besides this unusual partnership, there are many other factors for the success of their business. Billie Williams was well known and a great promoter of the business. He was generous to families in need in the community and they faithfully gave contributions to local fundraisers. They would never turn down a prescription for children if their family couldn't afford it. They also provided free delivery to NW Pasadena and Linda Vista. They did all with excellence and always stayed on top of things. Doug Kosobayashi's wife, Judy, sometimes made sure they worked on Sundays just to stay on top of all the orders.
Another factor that made them so successful was that it was just a great place to hang out, with a soda fountain early on, and later ice cream. They had many loyal customers, employees and physicians that stayed with them for many years.
The original Berry and Sweeney Pharmacy location was on the corner of Fair Oaks and Washington, when the area had a theater and other stores, but Standard Oil wanted this land for a gas station. The gas station never materialized, nevertheless, Berry and Sweeney had to move a few doors up to accommodate this big corporation. They moved into an older brick building that had once been a grocery store. The building just north of them had been a machine shop so they purchased it as well and made it into medical offices. The city was supportive of all these moves and purchases. Therefore, Williams became the contractor to adapt an architect's plan into a pharmacy and medical facilities, which they still are today.
What were the factors that made this novel relationship between Williams and Kosobayashi work so well? Curious people came asking this very question. So Kosobayashi shared with visitors how fortunate they were to develop their pharmacy and property in their own neighborhood.
When we interviewed this charming gentil soul, he also explained that perhaps his background, also made him so sympathetic to people of color.
During WW II, at age four, Kosobayashi was sent with his mother and sister to an internment camp in Arkansas along with many other Japanese Americans. While others recount negative experiences living in the camps, Kosobayashi recalls that his experience as a four-year old was enjoyable because many of the older folks there gave him candy, had time for the children and treated him with kindness. After four years in the internment camp, where his mother remarried, his family had no place to go so they worked as sharecroppers on the Alexander Plantation in Scott, AK. Even though his stepfather had a master's in psychology, there were few opportunities for his family other than gardening and farming. So Kosobayashi could identify with Blacks with such limited opportunities. Even though Kosobaysashi was treated as a white person at one of the K-12 schools in the Scott area, he witnessed the terrible conditions and segregation among Blacks in the Deep South. These experiences shaped Kosobayashi's heart in preparation for his future partnership with Billie Williams.