John ‘Hannibal’ Smith, leader of the television drama The A-Team, was known for his trademark declaration, “I love it when a plan comes together.” What is now known as Yates Pharmacy is the result of a plan coming together for Mike Harris and Scott Yates. And they love it.
When Yates left being a pharmacist at Russellville’s Wal-Mart in 2003 to work with and for Mike Harris of Nation’s Medicines, they both had transition in mind. “When he hired me, we talked then about my eventual buyout,” Yates said this week.
The sale became official Dec. 2, almost exactly a decade after Yates came aboard. Soon after he began working for Harris, Nation’s Medicines moved from its East Fourth Street locale (in the former location of Mallory Discount Drugs, a business which Harris bought in 1994) to a new site on West Fourth Street (greatly extended), between Auburn Banking Company and the Mansfield automobile showroom.
Mike Harris, who first came to Russellville as a pharmacist working for Charlie Lawson at the Prescription Center in 1980, has maintained ownership of the medical equipment section of the business, officially named Resp-Aire. It is located along the back wall of the pharmacy. Harris also still does some work as a druggist at the pharmacy, but is looking forward to having more time off. “I’ve been working about 60 hours a week for 30 years. It’s about time for me to cut back,” he said with a chuckle.
The name Nation’s Medicine comes from an association with an Owensboro-based company begun by David Nation in 1972. “We didn’t feel we needed to pay for the rights to use that name anymore,” Yates explains. “Our business has grown so over the years that we are well-established on our own.” So Nation’s Medicines is now Yates Pharmacy.
“I think Russellville is fortunate to have three strong independent pharmacies here,” said Yates, referring to Whitley’s Pharmacy—owned by Randy Whitley—and Riley-White Drugs, owned by Jerry White and Donnie Riley. Actually, Scott tends to associate Riley-White more with one of its pharmacists, David Guion, than he does with the owners, since he worked under the management of Guion at Wal-Mart before they went to work for the local pharmacies.
In fact, his interest in being a pharmacist and much of his experience came from working at Wal-Mart locations. He started in the pharmacy of the Wal-Mart in Springfield, Tenn. when he turned 18 in 1996, about the time of his graduation from Logan County High School. The head of that pharmacy was fellow Adairvillian Pat Starks. After two years of study at Western Kentucky University, he was accepted to pharmacy school at Samford University. He worked in the pharmacy at a Wal-Mart in Birmingham while he was earning his doctorate of pharmacy. Then came his tenure at the Russellville Wal-Mart before joining Harris’ business.
Yates Pharmacy has 14 employees, 8 of whom are full-time. Four others work four days a week while Barbara Harris and Tiffany McGinnis are on the job two days each week. Laura Benningfield is the other on-duty pharmacist besides Yates and Harris. Yates’ sister, Leslie Yates Ridgeway, works for Harris at Resp-Aire. She and her husband Chuck live in Bowling Green.
Scott Yates and his wife, fellow LCHS alum Beth Hughes Yates, were married while in college. She studied interior design and helps out some at the pharmacy, but most of her time is spent with family needs, since they have three children, Auburn Elementary students Zach, 11, and Davin, 8, along with preschooler Brenlee, 3.
Scott’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Yates, live near them in Auburn. Beth is the daughter of Jerry and Carrell Hughes, who are part of a large-scale farming operating in the Auburn area.
Yates was an excellent baseball player at LCHS and now helps coach youth baseball. He is on the board of Logan County Little League. The Yateses are members of New Friendship Baptist Church.
Yates Pharmacy is open from 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and from 8:30-1:30 Saturdays. Two drive-through lanes are available.