Businesswoman buys former Birmingham Drug

HAMLET — One of Hamlet’s most recognizable buildings downtown has a new owner and a new future — that may look a lot like the past.

Stephanie Al-Zubaidy, the Charlotte businesswoman who this spring purchased two Hamlet properties with plans to open a coffee shop and another undetermined business, closed on the purchase of the former Birmingham Drug Co. building that sits on the corner of Main Street and McDonald Avenue facing the Hamlet Depot.

Birmingham Drug closed in summer 2019 after 51 years of operations following the retirement of its owners, Mary and Bill Horne.

Al-Zubaidy, CFO of Three Rivers Home, LLC which is listed as the grantee on the deed for the property, said Friday that the plan for Birmingham is to turn the right side of it into a soda counter in the classic style of the 1930s, offering milkshakes, burgers, hot dogs, and soft drinks. Plans for the rest of the property, which is split into three sections, have not yet materialized.

Getting it ready to open will take a some time, and the first step is to address the asbestos and pull up the carpet to try to get down to the original flooring, Al-Zubaidy said.

Birmingham was more than just a drug store back in the day. Mary Horne, speaking to the Daily Journal at the time of its closing, recalled the ‘70’s when the store was a hot spot for young kids to hang out after football games to grab a Coke, a sandwich and ice cream. Since at least 1954, there was another tradition at the drug store: the “Can’t Remember (Stuff) Coffee Club,” made up of a group of community members who sit in the store window in shifts throughout the day to share gossip, talk politics and whatever else comes up.

Al-Zubaidy hopes to maintain the history of the building as she breathes new life into it.

“We’re making progress on everything,” Al-Zubaidy said, referring to her Hamlet ventures: the future coffee shop, “Axe to Grind” on Raleigh Street, and the former pawn shop on Hamlet Avenue. She is aiming to have the coffee shop open by the Seaboard Festival at the end of October — and if not she said, “I’m going to be serving coffee from the pot on the street.”

As for the former pawn shop, Al-Zubaidy has had several ideas, from an art space to a pop up boutique, but it’s still not clear. What is clear is that the building will soon have a mural on the side that faces the railroad tracks.

Al-Zubaidy pinpointed Hamlet as the place for her new ventures while driving between Charlotte and Wilmington, a frequent trek for her.

“When I went to Hamlet I just found it to be a lovely spot that doesn’t have a lot of life right now but could be potentially a fantastic place,” she told the Daily Journal in June. “The 74 corridor is very sleepy but there’s a lot of interesting things that happen along there and I thought, ‘that’s a town that could use some life.’ I have some time, I have some inclination, and I have a lot of friends who are interested in helping me do something.”