Brittany Kelley
BUDA — Buda Drug Store and Soda Fountain will be celebrating 20 years of service from June 22-27.
Before “and Soda Fountain” was added to its name, it was simply a pharmacy, which was started by Tammy Gray in 2006. She previously owned Western Trails Pharmacy and Lamar Plaza Drugstore in Austin, but after seeing a need in Buda and Kyle, she chose to sell her other business and open Buda Drug Store.
“There was no other pharmacy in Buda. There was no other pharmacy in Kyle. There was no Walgreens, no Walmart, no CVS — nothing, just H-E-B 20 years ago,” she recalled. “So, I decided that I wanted to open a pharmacy in the town where I live.”
While explaining her reasoning of selling, Gray noted that she is the type of small business owner that wants to focus on one business and actually work inside it — as she’s a pharmacist herself — rather than having a goal of owning multiple storefronts.
The store operated as a pharmacy for two years before the location next door was available for lease — and Gray knew exactly what she wanted to do with it.
“When I owned the Lamar Plaza Drugstore, part of its history when it opened in the 1950s was it had a soda fountain,” she shared. “Soda fountains probably started going away in the 1970s because they don’t generate a lot of revenue for the square footage required, but I’ve always been fascinated with the soda fountain and pharmacy together and the history there from the '20s and '30s. So, that was always my dream.”
Gray stated that back in the day, there was a push for soda fountains, due to the belief that carbonated water had health benefits, which is why they were initially installed in pharmacies.
The soda fountain area of the shop — accessible through its own door at the front of the building or through the drug store — features a diner-like atmosphere, where customers can order a multitude of goodies, said Gray, such as vanilla sodas, milkshakes, soups, sandwiches, coffee, ice cream and more.
The business is also a family affair, as Gray’s daughters — Hayley Gray and Mallory Barnett — work at the store, as well, as a pharmacist and chef and manager for the Soda Fountain, respectively.
As for celebrating 20 years, Gray said that it’s an achievement as her colleagues thought she was “crazy coming out here when there was already another pharmacy here: H-E-B, [but] my mentality was such that there’s a lot of people moving out here, obviously, and we have endured a lot of big-box pharmacies moving out here and we’re still continuing to grow.”
The store is available not only for residents to pick up regular prescriptions, but service long-term care facilities, veterinarians and more. They are also available 24 hours a day for hospice patients.
“The main thing is that we provide exceptional personal service. The product itself if you get it here, you [can] get it at H-E-B, so the only thing that we can offer that’s different is the experience,” the pharmacist emphasized. “We get to know our customers very well. We can call their name when they walk in the door. Most people don’t get that at another super busy big-box pharmacy.”
She shared that the community has been immensely supportive over the years and because of that, Buda Drug Store and Soda Fountain is excited to offer a week of specials, culminating with a party on Saturday, June 27:
• Monday, June 22: Free drip coffee
• Tuesday, June 23: 20% off milkshakes and a ribbon cutting at 9 a.m. with the Greater Buda Chamber of Commerce
• Wednesday, June 24: Free scoop of ice cream with a meal purchase
• Thursday, June 25: Free tea or lemonade with a meal purchase
• Friday, June 26: 20% off banana splits and sundaes
The party on Saturday will be from 4-6 p.m. and feature free ice cream, birthday cake and giveaways.
Buda Drug Store and Soda Fountain is located at 203 Railroad St. #2-B. For more information, visit www.budadrugstore.com.
