End of an Era
Hill Drug closes its doors, but it’s not a complete goodbye
Augusta’s a city with strong traditions and enormous heritage. Summerville, one of our city’s oldest neighborhoods, is home to Hill Drug, a small independent drug store and local landmark in the Hill area for the past 80 years. This week, a bit of history came to an end as the store closed its door for the last time.
Like Mayberry’s Andy Griffith, who died last week, the old-fashioned drugstore will be missed. Just as Floyd’s Barbershop delivered a sense of belonging, Hill Drug will be remembered as a classic of its own kind.
Hill Drug opened 80 years ago, in 1932, long before Andy Griffith’s Opie, Ron Howard, was even born. And that was just two years before Augusta hosted the first Masters golf tournament. Stewart Flanagin, R.Ph., brought the store back to life in 1991 and, 21 years later, he’s now closing that chapter.
“
I’m selling the Hill Drug business to Rite Aid and we’ll be relocating to the Rite Aid in Daniel Village,” says Flanagin. “Why? It’s just time – I’m 64 and half years old. It’s time to just be a pharmacist and kind of get away from the pressures of running a small business.”
Retirement? Please. Flanagin will be working at Rite Aid full time and he hopes it will be seven days a week. His current employees will also be applying for available positions at Rite Aid. Flanagin says he hadn’t wanted to “let the cat out of the bag” so he hasn’t yet met the other employees at Rite Aid.
“
I haven’t yet because I wanted to keep this a secret. It just came out Thursday. I’ve been real sneak-ative about it,” says Flanagin.
Ever since he bought the store in 1991, Flanagin has never left work behind. Many times, he has been at work on holidays and he’s frequently worked on weekends or after closing. Regular customers say that Flanagin always takes time to explain what to expect from medications and truly cares about his customers. A hometown pharmacy has not just the typical business pressures like payroll and inventory, but also complications with health insurance and medication policies, without a large staff to divide and conquer.
“
You’re constantly dealing with insurance companies and all of that has become more and more regulated and more and more time consuming,” explains Flanagin. “It’s hard to break away sometimes. I’m always trying to catch up.”
Hill Drug has over 600 charge accounts, and an uncountable number of customers, simply walk-ins, who depend on their pharmacy for advice and support.
Flanagin started as a pharmacist with Revco, which is now CVS. He says that he always wanted his own drug store and was looking for a good location. It just took awhile to find it. Flanagin has been “pharming” ever since he finished pharmacy school after graduating from UGA in 1970.
“
My daddy was a doctor. He was a surgeon, but I didn’t like blood, so I wanted to do something in the medical field, but I didn’t want to do anything that involved blood,” Flanagin says, laughing.
That doesn’t make sense. Flanagin is famous for giving the best flu shots in town. “Oh yeah, I can do that!”
Hill Drug is or was a classic, but maybe it’s Stewart Flanagin that’s the real classic. And like Andy Griffith’s Mayberry, re-runs will still be on of Flanagin and Hill Drug at Daniel Village’s Rite Aid.
“
Oh I’ll miss Hill Drug,” he says. I’m attached to this service. But I just made the decision. The time is right and I’m very happy with this.”
Now, Flanagin will have time for what he enjoys most — cooking, being a new grandfather, growing orchids, playing with his new dog, Cal, messing with his boat and riding in his 1934 Auburn convertible.
“
I want to get away without worrying about the business. It will be so nice to have a whole week for vacation,” says Flanagin with a big grin.You Might Also Like:
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Like Mayberry’s Andy Griffith, who died last week, the old-fashioned drugstore will be missed. Just as Floyd’s Barbershop delivered a sense of belonging, Hill Drug will be remembered as a classic of its own kind.
Hill Drug opened 80 years ago, in 1932, long before Andy Griffith’s Opie, Ron Howard, was even born. And that was just two years before Augusta hosted the first Masters golf tournament. Stewart Flanagin, R.Ph., brought the store back to life in 1991 and, 21 years later, he’s now closing that chapter.
“I’m selling the Hill Drug business to Rite Aid and we’ll be relocating to the Rite Aid in Daniel Village,” says Flanagin. “Why? It’s just time – I’m 64 and half years old. It’s time to just be a pharmacist and kind of get away from the pressures of running a small business.”
Retirement? Please. Flanagin will be working at Rite Aid full time and he hopes it will be seven days a week. His current employees will also be applying for available positions at Rite Aid. Flanagin says he hadn’t wanted to “let the cat out of the bag” so he hasn’t yet met the other employees at Rite Aid.
“I haven’t yet because I wanted to keep this a secret. It just came out Thursday. I’ve been real sneak-ative about it,” says Flanagin.
Ever since he bought the store in 1991, Flanagin has never left work behind. Many times, he has been at work on holidays and he’s frequently worked on weekends or after closing. Regular customers say that Flanagin always takes time to explain what to expect from medications and truly cares about his customers. A hometown pharmacy has not just the typical business pressures like payroll and inventory, but also complications with health insurance and medication policies, without a large staff to divide and conquer.
“You’re constantly dealing with insurance companies and all of that has become more and more regulated and more and more time consuming,” explains Flanagin. “It’s hard to break away sometimes. I’m always trying to catch up.”
Hill Drug has over 600 charge accounts, and an uncountable number of customers, simply walk-ins, who depend on their pharmacy for advice and support.
Flanagin started as a pharmacist with Revco, which is now CVS. He says that he always wanted his own drug store and was looking for a good location. It just took awhile to find it. Flanagin has been “pharming” ever since he finished pharmacy school after graduating from UGA in 1970.
“My daddy was a doctor. He was a surgeon, but I didn’t like blood, so I wanted to do something in the medical field, but I didn’t want to do anything that involved blood,” Flanagin says, laughing.
That doesn’t make sense. Flanagin is famous for giving the best flu shots in town. “Oh yeah, I can do that!”
Hill Drug is or was a classic, but maybe it’s Stewart Flanagin that’s the real classic. And like Andy Griffith’s Mayberry, re-runs will still be on of Flanagin and Hill Drug at Daniel Village’s Rite Aid.
“Oh I’ll miss Hill Drug,” he says. I’m attached to this service. But I just made the decision. The time is right and I’m very happy with this.”
Now, Flanagin will have time for what he enjoys most — cooking, being a new grandfather, growing orchids, playing with his new dog, Cal, messing with his boat and riding in his 1934 Auburn convertible.
“I want to get away without worrying about the business. It will be so nice to have a whole week for vacation,” says Flanagin with a big grin.You Might Also Like:
