business
the pharmacy
Soda Fountain
L
Where orangeade and friendly conversation are still flowing
By Courtney Phillips
ong before drive-thru food chains affordable food and drink choices. Business boomed until a
and online prescription refill, inde- decline in the 1960s, due to the advent of drive-in and eventually drive-thru restaurants. Though nearly obsolete,
pendently-owned pharmacies
Fayetteville still boasts two. This rare treaswith soda fountains
ure of Americana is found within
were cornerstones of small
Bordeaux Drug Company. There
town America.
In the 1800s, naturally
carbonated water became
popular for medicinal
uses as well as the chief
ingredient in the newlyinvented soda beverage. Difficult and expensive to transport,
this precious commodity could only be found
in local pharmacies.
Pharmacy soda fountains
quickly populated the country, giving townspeople a place
to gather and socialize during the
years of Prohibition and keeping aloft
many small, struggling pharmacies during the
Great Depression. Born of necessity and working in concert
with guaranteed pharmacy foot traffic, the soda fountain captured customers of every socioeconomic status by offering
is also a soda fountain at Massey Hill Drug Company on
Southern Avenue.
John Tew, manager of
Lilly's Snack Shop and
son of its namesake,
attributed the shop's
nearly 50 year life span
to a loyal customer base
and great quality. Amid
the ever-changing business landscape of our "AllAmerica City," Tew noted
that the snack shop, which is operated independently of and leased
from Bordeaux Drug Company, is now
catering to a third generation of loyal customers.
"Sometimes we have time to sit and talk with customers and
really get to know them. I'll ask them about their family and
they'll do the same. You won't get that at a fast food restauCityViewNC.com | 29
