Photo courtesy of Gary Licko. Jeff Levine advises that this photo was taken by Ernie Skog of Ernie's Studio and Camera Center.
This was a typical Rexall Drug Store in the 40's and 50's but this one still exists. It has been owned and operated by the John Stadnik family since 1946. They also had a drug store and luncheonette in the Miami International Airport terminal opposite Concourse F (previously Concourse 3) for decades and I bought many reasonably priced employee discounted take out breakfasts and lunches there throughout the 1970's and 80's while working for the airport. The waitresses I remember working that counter were Dottie, Helen Lyall and a little short one whose name I can't remember now.
October 20, 2011: from The Miami Herald:
Miami Springs Pharmacy celebrates 65 years
Remembering when: Carol Stadnik Dodgen (c), owner of Miami Springs Pharmacy, chats with longtime customers Martha Funderburk (l) and Karen Ingle (r) when the old drug store celebrated its 65th birthday last Saturday.
BY WALLACE CLARK
RIVER CITIES GAZETTE
The oldest business in the city celebrated its 65th birthday last Saturday, Oct. 15. Pharmacist John Stadnik opened Stadnik’s Miami Springs Pharmacy in 1946, soon after he returned home at the end of World War II, in which he served as an officer.
“This place has been quite an accomplishment, a dream,” said Stadnik’s daughter, Carol Stadnik Dodgen, who now operates the business. “I wish Dad had been here. He celebrated the 50th and 55th.”
John Stadnik died in 2004.
Many people remember Stadnik as a gentleman who always dressed in a suit and tie. He was well respected as a consummate businessman, in Miami Springs and throughout the county and state.
He and his first wife (long deceased) had five children, three of whom — Kathy, Carol and Leroy — still live in the Springs. John married a second time and was predeceased by his beloved Zanny.
Last year, Carol Dodgen resurrected the soda fountain and luncheonette, which was there at the beginning. “I named it Johnny’s in honor of my father,” said Dodgen.
Dodgen isn’t old enough to have been around when John Stadnik had his grand opening, but Martha Funderburk, 86, attended with her husband. Funderburk moved to Miami Springs in 1946, shortly before the drug store (as many people still call it) opened. She also recalls going to the grand opening of the Circle Theatre (now long gone) down the block.
Funderburk was on hand Saturday for lunch. “I wouldn’t miss this,” she said. “My family (four children) and I have been coming here since it opened.”
Also showing up for the 65th birthday commemoration was regular customer Karen Ingle, 68. “My family moved here in 1946 and I’ve been coming here all my life.”
Ingle remembers when she was in elementary school and Stadnik’s had a “Most Popular Kid Contest.” Prizes were a bicycle and a doll set.
“I won the bicycle and I cried because I wanted the doll set,” said Ingle. “My mother had to go out and buy me a doll.”
Ingle recalls long ago when her grandfather had a medical condition so painful that only cobra venom would bring relief.
“John Stadnik would go to the Serpentarium (long gone), get the venom, bring it to my grandfather and only charge $5. You could call John at home long after closing and he would make up whatever you needed and bring it by.”
Ingle remembers that during a long-ago flood John Stadnik would deliver medicine and groceries in a rowboat to those in need.
“You’re not a customer here, you’re family,” said Ingle. “They’re always there to help and comfort. This place is the backbone of Miami Springs. It would be a shame if it ever closed.”
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/21/2459854/miami-springs-pharmacy-celebrates.html#ixzz1bTmvWYDW
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December 2010: now open - Johnny's Soda Fountain & Luncheonette inside the drug store. The Soda Fountain is named after and dedicated to John "Johnny" Stadnik, 1917-2004. "Now you'all can come in for ice cream!" Visit their website at: http://www.miamispringspharmacy.com
For a view from the north after the Flood of 1947 see http://www.pbase.com/image/80163461