Major family-owned drug chains pass from the scene.

With the impending sale of Genovese Drug Stores to J.C. Penney's Eckerd drug chain, only one major drug chain still run by its founding "family remains. Though the chains shepherded by Messrs. Heller, Bartell and Levin temptingly come to mind, only Longs Drug Stores can truly be classed as a major chain.

Fittingly, Longs is currently marking its 60th anniversary, three score years after Joe and Tom Long, fresh from short stints at Safeway and PayLess, respectively, opened that first Longs self-service drug store on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, Calif. That initial outlet and those that followed, were, almost without exception, immediately successful. For some very good reasons.

Even at the start, the Long brothers preached the need to "care for your customers, care for your employees and care for your suppliers. And …