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When Taylor Trammell and Taylor Shadix started laying plans to open a local pharmacy back in 2015, community was at the center of their mission. After securing a location in the trendy Birmingham neighborhood of Crestwood, they set out to make their dream of creating community a reality. Crestwood Pharmacy & Soda Fountain was born in August 2017.

For Trammell, who grew up in a small town 30 miles north of Birmingham, Crestwood Pharmacy exemplified a return to his roots. He drew inspiration from his first job making pizza and stocking items at a local gas station that was more community hangout than fuel stop. 

“You would always run into someone you knew,” Trammell says. “Every morning on the way to school, the table was full of old men sitting around, drinking coffee, and shooting the breeze. I wanted a community pharmacy that was similar.”

For the idea to pair a pharmacy with a soda fountain, Trammell and Shadix took a page out of the history books. Trammell, the pharmacist behind the operation, says he wanted to honor the forgotten tradition of pharmacists disguising medicine for patients in delicious sodas. Though you can’t necessarily get your prescription mixed into a sweet treat today, you can still satisfy your soda fountain cravings.

“It also gives people a reason to sit around and hang out and get to know their neighbor or catch up with an old friend,” Trammelll says of the pharmacy’s soda fountain.

Menu items include milkshakes, waffle cones, coke floats, and ice cream sodas — all made with ice cream from Cammie’s Old Dutch in Mobile, Alabama. For the traditionalists, try an old-fashioned phosphate, lime rickey, or egg cream. And for those who crave a caffeine kick, there is cold brew, coffee ice cream soda, and a coffee milkshake made with local Domestique Coffee.

Trammell and Shadix say the goal behind their operation is all about infusing a bit of fun into the otherwise mundane task of picking up prescriptions. Trammell’s commitment to keeping things casual means he hung up his necktie upon opening and rarely wears his white coat — though he has been known to rock a tie-dye lab coat when compounding custom medications. 

Trammell says becoming a part of the Crestwood community means he makes it a priority to get to know each and every customer and patient who walks through the pharmacy’s doors. The pharmacy also carries several products from local makers like candles from Cicada Candle Co., kombucha from Harvest Roots, and hemp products from Dry Creek Hemp.  

In the past four years, Crestwood Pharmacy has grown considerably. Today, the pharmacy sees several hundred patients each week and talks to even more over the phone. But no matter how popular the pharmacy or soda fountain become, Crestwood Pharmacy will always retain that small-town feel where everyone knows your name and customers are treated like family. 

When asked his favorite thing about his job, Trammell’s answers without hesitation. 

“The people. It’s all about the people. We would be nothing without our customers and employees.”

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