CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Tuesday evening, Hamlin Pharmacy and Fountain announced it would be closing for good on May 7, after 62 years serving the community.
The business opened in 1960, and is in its fourth generation of owners in the family with current owner Katie Nicholson.
On Wednesday, the business was packed with customers, hoping to shop and eat at Hamlin Pharmacy one last time.
“We’re sure going to miss this place,” said Joann Krenick, who has been eating at Hamlin Pharmacy for as long as she can remember.
Wednesday, Krenick was there with three generations of her family.
Including her grandson, Colby, who was visiting for the first time.
“It’s wonderful, we like to share it with the family,” she said.
Many long-time customers were enjoying their time Wednesday, but so were not so long-time customers, like 7-year-old Amelia, who was visiting with her family.
“We usually come here after our doctor’s appointments. It just makes us feel better because whenever we’re sick we just like to come here and get a milkshake,” Amelia said. “The other reason is we like to go Christmas shopping, and we like to drink root beer floats together.”
Three women were there remembering someone special to them. Eva Hammer, Ninfa Martinez, and Sandy De Leon used to visit Hamlin once a week with Vivian Berryman.
The three women were caretakers of Berryman, who died in 2020 at the age of 102, and visited once a week with her.
“We brought her here for eight years, she lived down the street, so she’d been coming here for 60 years. This was her favorite place. She would have a burger and a coke,” Hammer said.
The three ate Berryman’s favorite meal, and even saved a seat for her.
“This is where we feel close to her,” Hammer said.
The business received an outpouring of love and support on its Facebook post announcing the planned closure.
One of those people was Mark Segrest, whose mother worked next door to the business when he was younger.
“47 years I’ve been going to Hamlin pharmacy, and they always made you feel like family there,” he said.
Now, Segrest takes his children to Hamlin.
“It’s very nostalgic to take my own boys there and sit at the round chairs, make them spin around, and walk around that place,” he said. “We’re sad to see them go. They will be missed but not forgotten.”
