Corner Drug Co. in Woodland turns vandalized storefront into opportunity for unity

Erik Daniells and his wife Sara Shelley were fast asleep with their newborn baby early Sunday morning when Daniells’ phone rang at around 1 a.m.

To his surprise, a Woodland police officer was calling to alert a half-awake Daniells that his business, the Corner Drug Co. Pharmacy on Main Street, was vandalized in the cover of night. A masked individual defaced the historic storefront using white spray paint to graffiti slurs on its main windows, as well as smash the window to the right of the First Street entrance.

Daniells would take to social media later Sunday morning, posting on the Corner Drug Co. Facebook page about the destruction at his business’ doorstep.

“To the person that did this: we can fix a window but you will always be broken,” he wrote. “We documented the damage and cleaned up the scene this morning as a family with lots of good humor and teamwork.”

The motive, Daniells and many in the community believe, is rooted in an incident at the pharmacy last Tuesday, when a local online provocateur entered Corner Drug Co. after seeing the Main Street-facing storefront display featuring LGBTQ+ flags alongside merchandise customers can find in the store.

According to Daniells, this individual then badgered staff, hounding the pharmacy team with questions about the treatment of minor patients and if the pharmacy offers LGBTQ+ specific health services. Law enforcement was called, and the individual was trespassed from the property, according to Daniells.

“We didn’t scream at them, we didn’t cause a scene. We knew they were just looking for content and looking to agitate people,” Daniells said. “We’re a very busy working pharmacy, that’s not what we do. We figured the video would get posted online, which it did, um, then the outrage started. This local person doesn’t call for violence, but certainly knows how to incite a crowd.”

The right First Street facing window at Corner Drug Co. in Woodland is boarded up following an attack on the business that left the window shattered and another one covered in derogatory, anti-LGBTQ+ slurs. (Taylor Heeden Larkins/Daily Democrat)

The First Street facing window to Corner Drug Co. in downtown Woodland was smashed on Sunday morning, according to law enforcement and store owners. (Corner Drug Co./Courtesy)

An unknown perpetrator graffitied anti-LGBTQ+ slurs onto the windows of Corner Drug Co. on Main Street in downtown Woodland on Sunday. (Corner Drug Co./Courtesy)

1 of 3

Expand

The next day, the trespassed individual posted a video edited for social media of the heated encounter between them and staff. The video began to garner the attention of fringe, conservative online circles, and soon, the threats started rolling in.

Daniells said the store received multiple harassing calls, and just a day after the video was made public, another individual came into the store, promising to bring the business down.

“He said if we didn’t take our LGBT flags down and our pride stickers that … he was going to start a war against us,” Daniells explained.

It was just days after the post was made that the store was vandalized, according to Daniells.

After posting the pictures of the damage, Daniells said the original instigator from last Tuesday returned to record and post their own video about the destroyed storefront. Shortly after, the conspiracy theories started — some going as far as to call the attack on Corner Drug Co. a “false flag” incident and even accusing Daniells of being the perpetrator.

Some comments even suggested that since the business was targeted, Daniells’ home — where he has two kids, including a newborn who arrived home from the NICU just weeks ago — should be next on the list.

“When you have a baby in the NICU, work is the last thing you’re thinking about,” Daniells said. “With the newborn and with just how many people have reached out to me plus the negativity, we’re all pretty drained … someone posted, ‘You got his business. Let’s do his house next.’ I don’t want I don’t want things to keep escalating. I’ve got a baby at home, I’ve got two kids. I can fight, but this is not for them.”

Daniells said that while some people are using this moment to drive the community further apart, he wants to use the attack on his business to bring Woodland together.

In the Corner Drug Co. Facebook post, Daniells said he and his wife would donate to several local LGBTQ+ nonprofits, including Elevate Queer Yolo: LGBTQIA+ Youth & Young Adult Services and Davis Phoenix Coalition, “as a direct result of this hate,” according to the post.

“I’m always looking to see how we can turn a terrible situation to something positive for Woodland, and we’ve always supported the work of CommuniCare+OLE, Elevate Queer Yolo and organizations like the (Davis) Phoenix Coalition, we’ve been a big supporter of both Woodland and Davis Pride,” Daniells said. “So we wanted to see how we could sort of take this sad situation and try to make it into a positive and support the community that has and is continuing to support us.”

Corner Drug Co. has been a household name in Woodland and across Yolo County for nearly 130 years, often serving as a point of healthcare access for the most vulnerable across the county.

“Pharmacy deserts” are defined as areas where residents lack reasonable local access to retail or community pharmacies, such as living more than 10 miles away from the nearest drugstore in rural areas or areas where most of the population are facing extreme travel barriers.

Research from Ohio State University shows nearly 46% of U.S. counties contain at least one pharmacy desert, and because of the rise in lack of access, Daniells said a cornerstone of his business’ operations is ensuring everyone — regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation or religion — has equal access to Corner Drug Co.’s services.

“As a pharmacy, we’re a reflection of Woodland, and we want to serve everybody,” Daniells said. “We’ve always been an inclusive space … it’s interesting that we’ve had so much attention in just the last couple days, but this is not new to us at all.”

Daniells went on to explain his staff has always come from an extensive array of backgrounds, identities and cultures — each one shaping Corner Drug Co. as a place where all can seek the healthcare they need.

“We have a very diverse staff, almost 40 employees; that’s who we are,” Daniells said. “I hope they know that, um, we love them and we support them just how they are.”

Many have taken to social media to voice their support for the coveted local pharmacy, including Yolo County’s U.S. Congressional Rep. Mike Thompson.

“Disheartened to see Corner Drug in Downtown Woodland vandalized with hate speech,” Thompson wrote. “Hate has no place in our communities, and we should come together to support small businesses like this one that work to keep our community healthy and safe.”

The Woodland Police Department made its own post addressing multiple topics related to Sunday’s vandalism event.

The police department also mentioned its SAFE SPACE program, which was mentioned in the original video posted by the local online agitator after last Tuesday’s interactions when they were approached by law enforcement.

WPD clarified the purpose of the SAFE SPACE program is to partner with local businesses and organizations to provide safe locations for victims of hate crimes and hate incidents. Participating locations display the SAFE PLACE decal, which was on the smashed window at Corner Drug Co., and can provide a safe place for individuals while law enforcement is contacted.

“We understand incidents like this can be concerning and upsetting, particularly for members of our LGBTQ+ community,” the department posted. “We want to be clear: everyone in Woodland deserves to feel safe, respected, and welcome in our community. Acts that target individuals or businesses because of who they are or are perceived to be are taken seriously.”

While WPD continues its investigation, Daniells said he is working with Woodland native artist Elsye Doyle-Martinez to design and create a mural on the board covering the decimated window, turning something chaotic into a beautiful work of art the community can appreciate.

And for Doyle-Martinez, this incident hits close to home. Growing up and moving back to her hometown as a queer woman, she explained it was people like the person who destroyed the Corner Drug Co. storefront who make it scary on a day-to-day basis for her and others to live in the place they call home.

“When I moved back here with my wife almost 10 years ago now, she would ask why I wouldn’t hold her hand, and I would tell her I didn’t feel comfortable and I’m honestly scared to walk down the street,” Doyle-Martinez explained. “I don’t think a lot of people understand that, and I think (Sunday) was kind of an example of it. It’s not everybody in Woodland, at all — I know so many people who are accepting and supportive, but it just takes that one person to kind of do something like what happened the other night to scare everyone all over again. “

Doyle-Martinez and Daniells both agree that, if anything can come of this, they hope the people of Woodland can come together and stand against the tide of online hate hurled at one of the most beloved establishments in town for around 130 years.

“I think this will be a great way to show this didn’t scare us,” Doyle-Martinez said. “It didn’t scare us into backing down from anything — we’re still here, we still have the support of so many people in the community, and I just want to make sure that is recognized.”