A Nostalgic Experience at the Pharmacy

The year was 1910 and Charles Walgreen, Sr. was in search of a way to not only separate his pharmacies from his competitors but also find a way to top the services other pharmacies were offering.
Already serving bottled soda water to his customers during the hot months of the year, Walgreen realized that serving hot food during cold months to the people as they waited for their prescriptions to be filled could revolutionize the way people experienced a trip to the pharmacy.
This discovery led to the creation of the dine-in experience Walgreens now offered the public.
By 1929 this phenomenon had boosted Walgreens from two stores to 525 store locations across the United States. It wasn’t until 1947 however, that Walgreens, which had made its way to the heart of Louisiana in the 1930’s, began offering customers in Alexandria this unique dine-in experience at the pharmacy.
While this distinct Walgreens amenity fizzled out in the 1980’s, the dine-in experience never left its central Louisiana location.
Today, however, it isn’t Walgreens that is providing this charming hospitality to customers. Instead it’s Sentry Drug.
The store’s current owners have continued providing this retro service to its customer for the same reason Walgreen decided to start it. “We are not Walmart. We are able to interact more with the people and provide them with good customer service so that they will want to continue coming back,” said Sentry Drug owner Kent Allen.
This rare service of providing wholesome food with a side of southern hospitality while dropping off a prescription has made one of the store’s visitors a regular for 63-years, now. Melvin Sigur, who began visiting Sentry Drug in 1952 when it was still a Walgreens, has made the drug store his place of choice to enjoy a savory breakfast two to three times a week.
Sigur’s favorite item of the menu is the Country Boy, which consist of: two fresh eggs, pork sausage or three bacon strips, grits, and toast or a biscuit.
“I keep coming because the food is always good and the service is always friendly.” Sigur then provided everyone with a laugh when he jokingly said to the owner, who was visiting with customers in the diner, “Didn’t you say I get this meal for free?”
Laughing, Allen said to Sigur, “Yes, this one will be on the house.” Sigur then said, “As you can tell we like to give each other a hard time.”
It is that friendly lighthearted interaction with customers that has allowed Kent and his pharmacist wife Vickie, whose parents previously owned the drug store and grill, to continue to make Walgreen’s vision in 1910 a reality 105-years later at Sentry Drug.
Other than Sigur’s favorite, the diner also offers lunch and dinner. Sentry Grill’s menu offers foods ranging from salads to monstrous sized hamburgers and even daily plate lunch specials that you will always receive from a smiling waitress.
The friendliness that you experience while dining-in at Sentry Grill spills over even into the Pharmacy side of the Allens’ business. It provides its visitors with an enjoyable experience no matter what you are there to do.
Ross Freeman, who is a pharmacist at Sentry Drug, chose to begin working at the historical drug store for the very same reason that many of its customers continue to allow Sentry Drug to service them.
“This place has a small town feel to it and because of that we get to shoot the bull with customers and build real relationships with the people. That aspect of Sentry Drug is what brought me here,” said Freeman.
The small town feel can be attributed to the fact that the Sentry Drug employees have been their for years, which has created a closeness between workers that makes them feel like family instead of co-workers.
Vickie, who owns the drug store with her husband Kent, basically grew up at Sentry Drug. Florence Fonville, who has been waitressing at the grill for 34 years, said, “I can remember when Vickie would waitress with us. We’ve all been knowing each other for so long that we have become like one big family and that’s the kind of relationship we try to build with our customers. It is that interaction with the customers that I enjoy most because now the customers are more like family and friends,” Fonville said.
While the current employees maintain a family like relationship, former employees and owners still drop in to reminisce with the Sentry Drug family they were once a part of.
Former owner Travis Hopkins continues to use Sentry Drug as his pharmacy. During the 10 to 15 minute wait for his prescription to be filled Hopkins gets to roam the store catching up with his former employees and regular customers reminiscing about his time as the drug store’s owner.
While catching up with Sigur in the diner, Hopkins, who owned the drug store and grill when it was called Red Cross Drug, told the story of why he changed its name to Sentry Drug.
Hopkins remembered, “Hotel Bentley was open at the time that I owned the drug store and one day an attorney that was staying at the hotel saw that the name of my pharmacy was Red Cross Drug. He actually reported us to the federal government. It wasn’t long before I received a letter from the federal government stating that the name must be changed or I was going to be fined a substantial amount of money. That’s when I changed the name to Sentry Drug and it hasn’t changed since.”
While the name of this unique drug store has changed over the years, the stores owners and employees’ mission of providing friendly and convenient service remains and continually allows Sentry Drug to set itself apart from other pharmacies just like it did in 1910.