Community pharmacy doubles as a healthy drinks bar

Stanley's Pharmacy in New York is a neighborhood drugstore that provides herbal teas and sodas alongside its medicines and remedies.

Dining and health are intimately related, so it’s no surprise that in the past we’ve seen ideas such as Japan’s Tanita Shokudo cafeteria, which offers dietary advice sessions alongside its menu. Now Stanley’s Pharmacy in New York is aiming to recreate the warm atmosphere of community drugstores of the 1950s, providing herbal teas and sodas alongside its medicines and remedies.

Created by Stanley George, who has in turn spent time working in traditional drugstores and playing in a rock band, the idea behind Stanley’s Pharmacy is to create a neighborhood space where people can go to help themselves feel better. Eschewing the fluorescent lights and drab aisles of big-brand pharamacies, the Lower East Side venue is decked in bright orange and includes a Drinks + Drugs menu that pairs headache cures and allergy treatments with kombucha on tap and artisanal sodas. Speaking to the New York Times, Stanley said “It’s all about feeling good”, and hopes that the venue will become a meeting place and party venue as much as a friendly drugs retailer.

Which other high street utilities could be given a more consumer-friendly makeover?