Co-op Cut Rate Drug Store

Elaine "Tommie" Davis opened the Co-op Cut Rate Drug Store, at 40 N. Main St., in Cape Girardeau on Oct. 18, 1933. An article ran in a 1941 issue of "Drug Topics" stating that Davis's store was one of the first to operate a Women's Department in a drug store. This ground-breaking department, for the time, combined baby needs, "Beauty Bar" and personal needs into one area of the store. This allowed for a one-stop-shop for female shoppers in downtown Cape Girardeau. The store also catered to men by selling liquor, cigarette and pipe holders.

Mary Jane Barnett was born in Litchfield, Illinois, on July 19, 1908, a daughter of William C. "Claud" Barnett and Bertha C. Waggoner. The family later moved to Peoria, Illinois. After graduating with a degree in public school music from Illinois Woman's College (now MacMurray College) in 1930, she attended the Normal School in Bloomington, Illinois, and Bradley University in Peoria. After school, she spent six months traveling with Universal Producing Company of Fairfield, Iowa, "selling tickets, coaching and managing." She decided she wasn't suited for always being on the road. She moved to southeast Missouri where she began teaching high school in Hornersville in 1931. Mary Jane taught for seven years in Hornersville, Diehlstadt and Sikeston. Davis asked Barnett to be her business partner, after having two previous partners, in 1938. Both women became well known in the business and philanthropic community of Cape Girardeau.

Barnett and Davis loved entertaining and supporting the arts. In 1958, they established the Davis-Barnett Awards. These scholarships were presented annually for several years to outstanding students, in seven categories, of Southeast Missouri State University's Theatre Department. Barnett was also musically talented. She played violin with the Cape Girardeau Symphony for several years beginning in 1956. She could also play the autoharp, concertina and balalaika. Both Davis and Barnett were members of the Metro Merchants Association, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and other organizations.

"Tommie" Davis was born in East Prairie, Missouri, on Oct. 18, 1911, a daughter of Elgin C. Davis and Henrietta E. Grissom. She graduated from Southeast Missouri State University and after taught school in East Prairie and the university. She also coached the girls' basketball team while at East Prairie in 1933. Davis died on Jan. 4, 1981, and was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Sikeston, Missouri.

After Davis's passing, Barnett ran the business for 10 years until retiring in 1991. She passed away on April 15, 1997, and her cremated remains are in Carrollton City Cemetery in Carrollton, Illinois.