Alderson’s Pharmacy marked 70 years last week with staff and customers joining in on the celebrations.
Founder Stan Alderson, 96, has fond memories of the opening in 1947.
Back then all the medicine was mixed by hand with prescriptions carefully entered into a huge ledger.
The first prescription he sold was only two shillings.
It was the first business he opened after returning from WWII where he flew Beaufighter planes. It was a career he always knew he wanted.
‘’I just loved it. I had a great liking from the word go,’’ he said.
‘’I started off wanting to be a research scientist and realised that wasn’t in my capabilities. Pharmacy opened the door for so many additional things I was able to do during my life.’’
During the years he has helped generations of families with his special brand of customer service.
‘’In those days there wasn’t anywhere to weigh the baby so for the first 10 years I spent more time weighing babies then I did dispensing medicine,’’ he said.
‘’Families are everything and I loved the work.’’
The opening inspired a lifelong love of business which continues today.
He built a camera section in the pharmacy that eventually led to two independent camera stores.
One of those was the founding store for the Camera House chain of stores.
It later continued in Alderson’s Framing in Carlton and Alderson Arts and Crafts.
Despite not being able to run a physical store, he still keeps busy with an online mold-making business.
‘’Mental activity is everything,’’ he said.
‘’If you don’t use it you lose it. It’s essential that you keep mentally active.’’
The family name remains in Rockdale after his son Kent took over the pharmacy more than 40 years ago.
‘’It did come to me fairly naturally I think, there must of been something in the background that drew me to it,’’ he said.
‘’I can honestly say it’s the most comfortable fit for me as far as professions.’’
Kent said that it was their customer service that set them apart from other discount chains.
‘’I don't think the starting point has ever changed,’’ he said.
‘’Things are changing but the thing that is true to myself is to have the core values we had from the beginning which is looking after your customers the best way you possible can.’’
He works side by side with shop manager Sylvia Spasevski who has been at Alderson’s for 42 years.
Jackie Spinella has been the pharmacy bookkeeper for over 43 years.
Pharmacist’s Diane Seeto has worked there for 26 years while Elizabeth Yu has been employed there for more than seven.
