CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— Restaurants come and go on Franklin Street, but a century and four owners later, Sutton’s Drug Store still stands. First opened as a pharmacy in 1923 by Lynwood and Lucy Sutton, the store became known as a place where customers could pick up their prescriptions and munch on a snack while they waited.
Just one step inside, you’re transported in time through the old-fashioned candy and soda bottles on the shelves and a decade of photos covering the store’s walls.
Douglas Gresham has been a Sutton’s customer since 1991 and is passing on his love for the place to his son via memories and hamburgers. “Some of the pictures that are up, I’m able to see some of my friends when we were here when we were undergrads. Probably if they had pictures from that long ago, my parents would be in some too,” says Gresham.
Current owner Don Pinney would probably agree. His parents worked at Sutton’s, and even he started working there at age 13, 14. He credits Sutton’s longevity to that generational customer loyalty and his own staff. Pinny explains the secret to creating such a successful business and says, “Being here so people see you and having a friendly staff that is consistent makes a big difference. They make people feel at home.”
Pinney says he has a personal relationship with many of his customers and that you’re always likely to find him chatting it up with first-timers and or regulars alike. “It is wonderful to watch a student come in as a freshman and see them leave as a senior and see the development and the growth of hundreds of customers you know daily that you see also graduating and gone but they come back and visit,” he says as he reflects on his time with the shop.