A surprising piece of Charlotte history was unearthed during recent renovations

Jodie Valade
·3 min read

A piece of history was unearthed recently when a former Dollar General store at the corner of 7th Street and Pecan Avenue began to undergo renovations.

Stripped of its facade, the building underneath was painted with a sign that has stood the test of time: Stanley Drug Store.

CharlotteFive got curious about Stanley Drug Store, and found this 1997 story from when it closed. The neighborhood drugstore first opened in 1934.

Enjoy this peek back at time at what was once a Charlotte institution.

The Stanley Drug Store sign was unearthed recently when a former Dollar General store at 7th Street and Pecan Avenue underwent renovations.
The Stanley Drug Store sign was unearthed recently when a former Dollar General store at 7th Street and Pecan Avenue underwent renovations.

Aug. 21, 1997

Diane Suchetka, The Charlotte Observer

Deputy Sheriff Erce Cobile came on his lunch hour to be with the regulars one last time.

Eliza Cathey came for the french fries and the asafetida tincture she can’t find anywhere else.

“You start getting a cold, you take a few drops of that and it nips it in the bud,” says the 74-year-old retiree.

And Pat Williams came because she’s been coming since 1958 when she first took nurses training at Mercy Hospital.

She brought her camera so she’ll have a keepsake to remember all the deluxe cheeseburgers with fries and good times at the coffee shop at Stanley Drug.

Pat Williams left, a regular customer at the Stanley Drug lunch counter, takes a picture of Ray and Carroll Purgason, who ran the post office at the drugstore, on August 21, 1997, the last day of operation for the counter. The Purgasons were to lose their jobs when the Post Office closed, as would Jim and Theodora Apostolou, who ran the lunch counter. Regulars gathered to photograph and sign a card in preparation for the sale of the local Stanley Drug Store on 7th Street to Revco.

“This is just a landmark place,” Williams said as she finished her lunch. “It’s a very sad day.

“I remember when the Stanley brothers were actually here — when this was actually Stanley’s drugstore. When they knew you by name.”

Jimmy’s Coffee Shop, in the back of the drugstore, served its last meal at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Its slow, sad end is the first step in the closing of the entire neighborhood drugstore, which opened in 1934.

A new owner apparently takes over on Sunday.

The post office, Western Union office and BellSouth bill-paying center will close at 7 p.m. today.

The rest of the store — including the pharmacy and orthopedic shoe store — will close at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Going with them is a slice of Charlotte history.

8/21/97 1C Sam Cook, a regular at the Stanley Drug food counter, signs a farewell posterboard for owners Jimmy and Theodora Apostolou and Amy Scott as David Scott, husband of Amy, looks on. (UNPUBLISHED NOTES:) (8/20/97.SUDETKA). “I’ve come in forlunch almost everyday for most of my 30 years”, said Sam Cook, left, a regular at the Stanley Drug lunch counter, as he signed a farewell posterboard for owners Jim and Dora Apostolou and waitress, Amy Scott, as Scott’s husband, Dave Scott, center, and Skip Richardson, right, look on. The Apostolous served up their last meal to customers on Wednesday in preparation for the sale of the local Stanley Drug Store on 7th Street to Revco. GAYLE SHOMER/STAFF

Where else can you buy a half-gallon of cold milk, send a package UPS, buy a book of stamps, a package of Slim Jims, made-to-order orthopedic shoes, sitz baths, a hot pepper steak sandwich and fries, send a telegram, get a specially-mixed-before-your-eyes prescription filled and pay your phone bill all under one roof?

And where else can you find an old chrome and vinyl lunch counter filled with friends every day?

Jimmy Apostolou, owner of the coffee shop, and his wife, Theodora, aren’t sure what they’ll do next.

“I’m up in the air,” says Jimmy, who took over what had been George’s Coffee Shop a little more than a year ago.

But he promises to let his regulars know where he’ll open next and when.

Wednesday, he packed up equipment and hauled it out while the regulars came by to shake his hand and hug each other.

“It’s sad,” said waitress Amy Scott as she poured coffee and plopped down platters full of onion rings and marinated chicken strips over rice.

“It’s going to be hard to find another spot like this, but we’re going to try to get as close as we can,” she said as she cleared the counter for the final time.

“That’s my last plate,” she said to no one. “It’s time to go home and cry.”

8/21/97 GAYLE SHOMER/Staff Donald Thrift of Standard Coffee Service removes the coffee maker and empty pots from the lunch counter. The parents of Mike Katergaris (left) bought some of the restaurant equipment.
8/21/97 GAYLE SHOMER/Staff Donald Thrift of Standard Coffee Service removes the coffee maker and empty pots from the lunch counter. The parents of Mike Katergaris (left) bought some of the restaurant equipment.

Addendum:

Although the Stanley Drug Store sign lasted for 26 years beneath the building facade, it was removed quickly after it was unveiled last week. On Tuesday, CharlotteFive captured the original sign — and a whole lot of history — being removed.

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