In 1917, as the U.S. entered World War I, Isaac Katz turned a challenge into an opportunity. A wartime decree prohibited stores from staying open past 6 p.m. – peak hours for the Katz brothers’ tobacco store near Union Station in Kansas City. Only pharmacies could remain open in the evening. Katz found a retired pharmacist and hired him right away, saving the business and launching a new era – the chain of Katz drug stores.

Stephen Katz tells the story of his Ukrainian-born grandfather Isaac Katz and the rise of the Katz Drug Company, the Wal-Mart of its day, on Sunday, June 21, at 2 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

Stephen Katz was a Katz Drug Company executive and is a lifelong resident of the Kansas City area.

This presentation is part of the Missouri Valley Speakers Series, a program of the Missouri Valley Special Collections at the Central Library. The series is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.