The store was eventually sold and moved across the street to the Blanche Hotel building. It was sold a few more times before Don, who was working at the pharmacy, and his wife bought the store in 1984. In 1998, the Houstons moved the store across the street. They kept the old-fashioned atmosphere of the pharmacy and the building, which was constructed in 1865. Once people find the drugstore, whether they are looking for it because of what they read in USA Today or in their American Automobile Association guide book or just came upon it on a break from Interstate 10, they continue coming back, she said.
Some people bring their children to experience the sodas they grew up with.
She said some of the people who visit are former employees who come back to get their photo taken behind the soda fountain. The most famous person who has worked behind the soda fountain was sports announcer Pat Summerall. Then there's the regular crowd of locals. Several visit every morning for coffee. Members of the coffee club have their own mugs displayed on the wall next to the soda fountain.