The following article (
visit link) tells about this pharmacy:
"Ted Tangalakis, a jolly man with a constant smile on his face, said he finds pleasure in running his store, Ted's Campus Drugs, despite the fact that he will be 90 next June.
"I enjoy it," Tangalakis said as he shuffled in the door and across the old wooden floor. "Not everyday is a good day, but I enjoy coming in most days."
Tangalakis said he chose this area to live because of his family situation at the time. He had just returned from serving in the Second World War.
"I married a girl from Chicago, and I'm from a small town," Tangalakis said. "I didn't want to live in Chicago, and she didn't want to live in a small town, so we chose Ann Arbor. Then I found out that the store was for sale and I bought it. I've been here ever since."
According to Tangalakis' daughter Carene, the store was originally a small A&P store owned by a Mr. Petycrew. Petycrew bought it in 1930 and had it until her dad came back from overseas and bought it in 1946. The microwave oven was just invented and the parking lot next to Campus Drugs was Eastern's gym.
"He's like a second grandpa to everyone," Salisa Savel, a Ted's Campus Drugs employee of two years said with a smile referring to Ted Tangalakis, the owner of the store.
Savel said that on homecoming weekend the store was buzzing with activity.
"People who used to work here came in to show him their kids and say, 'Hi'," she said. "Ted has a book that they sign and they leave their addresses and business cards."
Annika Moberg, the owner of The Art Attack next door described Tangalakis as a "great old guy" who truly cares.
"Ted has an amazing memory," Moberg said. "Students from 20 years ago stop by and see him and he'll remember them in detail. Ted seems to know everybody-administrators, professors and tons of students."
With Tangalakis' friendly spirit, he has found meaning in life by going to work each day and visiting with people.
Cerene Tangalakis said that the store keeps her father going.
"The store is good for him," she said. "It gets him out of bed every morning. Even if he just reads the paper, it's good for him to be here."
Cerene Tangalakis enjoys helping her dad out with the store. With so much history behind the business, she had much to share about watching the transitions over the years following her father's return from service overseas.
"There really wasn't much for students to do, since there was nothing in the Union or around campus then. The store had sandwiches, ice cream and coffee for students. I lived in Goddard Hall, and we had curfew at 11:00 and had nothing to do," she said.
Ted's became their hang out.
"My brother George and I called it 'Ricky Nelson's Dairy Bar,' like in Happy Days," said Cerene Tangalakis.
As well as a dairy bar, Ted's was also a successful pharmacy. Cerene Tangalakis described the booming business and the changes it eventually went through.
"My dad never stopped filling prescriptions," she said, "but when it came to 1976, we realized that things were changing. His life was [dedicated to] serving students, not to making money, so we had to look at what kids wanted. Today it would be cool to have a Coke fountain, but then we needed something different. We added beer and wine and changed the store. The dairy bar is actually in a museum now. Meijer's didn't exist and the Union had nothing, so kids came here."
Cerene Tangalakis's parents met through both of her grandmothers' connection. They used to visit each other as children and have been sweethearts since childhood.
"My grandmothers were both originally from Greece, she said. "They used to sit in front of each other in primary school."
They were friends as girls and then lost touch. Then, through the 'Greek Grapevine,' as Cerene Tangalakis calls it, they found each other again. Her dad's family lived in St. Louis Michigan and her mom's family lived in Chicago. They used to visit each other, and it was a treat for each family to visit the city or the country.
After she and her two brothers left home, Cerene Tangalakis said her mother was lonely at home alone all day.
"My dad bought the store next door and my mother turned it into a greeting card shop," she said. "My mom was disappointed because she wanted to sit in the store and knit, but it was too busy. Then they knocked down the wall between the two stores and created one big store, which is how it is now. The students buy more beer and wine now than cards, but we still sell them."
Eventually, Cerene Tangalakis and her brother, George Tangalakis, bought Theo-Door's, the bar a few doors down from Ted's. They have now owned Theo's for 25 years.
Despite all the changes over the past 60 years, Ted's is still a place for students to appreciate. When walking through the door, Ted will probably be ready to say, "Hello!"
"We have a very friendly relationship," Moberg said. "Ted is certainly an Eastern and Ypsilanti institution."