70 years after it first opened its doors to the Gainesville community, Riverside Pharmacy & Gift Nook continues to provide pharmaceuticals, gifts and other merchandise to area residents.
The pharmacy opened on Jan. 8, 1954, in the building next to Green's Grocery on Riverside Drive. The pharmacy then moved to its current location several doors down in 2004.
Charles Johnson and Joanne Adams initially opened the store, with Adams working as the first female pharmacist in Gainesville at the time. Wayne Gee, who continues to work at the pharmacy, owned the business from 1986 to 2010. Gee then sold the business to current owner Scottie Barton in 2010.
"Tremendous changes have taken place," Gee said. "Back then we had a typewriter and a label and you put on it anything you wanted to."
Barton said technology has progressed to the point where Riverside Pharmacy now has a machine that performs automated packing for prescription medications.
"We opened with the intention of being a neighborhood pharmacy that was open to the public for any questions that a pharmacist could answer," Gee said.
Service is essential at Riverside, according to Katie Barton, an employee at Riverside and Scottie Barton's daughter.
"We genuinely care about our customers, and we always want to put our best foot forward and give the best service that we can because that's what makes you stand out from a big chain," Katie Barton said.
One recent addition to Riverside Pharmacy was the construction of a drive-thru window.
"Now mothers can come through and don't have to come inside the store if they've got a sick baby in the car or sick kids," Scottie Barton said.
The store also features a gift shop, dubbed the "Gift Nook," which was added in the early 90s.
A full spotlight on the Riverside Pharmacy & Gift Nook can be viewed in the above video.
