Look up from the counter, and you’ll see original Edwardian cabinets stuffed with ceramic jars labeled in Latin. “Unguentum” this, “Pulvis” that. It’s like a David Lynch film, but with more tartan. The floorboards creak in ways that suggest they’ve memorised every customer’s footstep for a century. And the ceiling? Oh, the ceiling—ornate plasterwork so elaborate you could stare at it while waiting for a prescription and forget you’re unwell.
There’s a little display area near the door where they sell genuinely oddball items. I’m talking antique weighing scales, Victorian medical guides, and bottled herbs that look like they might summon a minor demon. I once bought a tin of lozenges there that tasted like burnt sugar and fixing a broken heart. (Okay, not literally, but the emotional effect was the same.)
And here’s my favorite irony: right next door, there’s a chain pharmacy that’s all white and plastic and soulless. You can walk in, scan your own items at a self-checkout, and feel nothing. Charles Michie’s forces you to interact—to ask a question, to smell the menthol, to slow the hell down. It’s rebellious in its old-school stubbornness.
Charles Michies Pharmacy want to revamp Union Street shopfront
Why you need to visit (yes, you, reading this)
If you’re in Aberdeen, do yourself a favor: walk into 391 Union Street even if you don’t need medicine. Buy a jar of weird throat lozenges, ask about the history, and listen to the creaky floor. It’s not just a shop—it’s a civic ritual. You’ll leave feeling like you’ve visited a wise old friend who smells faintly of menthol and chamomile.
And if you’re too far away to visit? Just know that places like this still exist, stubbornly refusing to be replaced by a plastic conveyor belt. There’s hope for the world yet. Especially if you have a mysterious rash and need someone to tell you it’s just stress.
So next time you type “pharmacy near me,” pause. Imagine a dusty cabinet, a knowing nod, and a paper bag of something that smells like history. That’s Charles Michie’s. That’s real magic, hiding in plain sight on Union Street.
