Vancouver, WA Sudden Walgreens closure?

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Super S
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Vancouver, WA Sudden Walgreens closure?

Post by Super S »

I was in Vancouver, WA today, and decided to stop in at Paws-N-Claws thrift store at 3200 NE 52nd St. First, I noticed that the store moved into the former Walgreens in the strip mall, from a smaller location in the same strip mall. What struck me as odd, though, was the fact that it looked like Walgreens left this space in a hurry, and I am not sure if a replacement was built for this one. Although I did not get any pictures, I did notice that parts of the Walgreens logo sign remained in the big window above the doors, and inside, there were bits and pieces of Walgreens signage remaining, including aisle hangers. Worth noting is that this location was a former Hi-School Pharmacy and was part of a sale of the Vancouver locations to Walgreens. Also worth noting is that certain Hi-School locations received extensive remodels, including installing suspended ceilings, while others, such as this one, had minimal remodels and retained the open "warehouse" ceiling which Walgreens does not use in the stores they build to my knowledge.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/jul/ ... reopening/

The news story acknowlegdes that the space was a former Walgreens, but I could not find the reason Walgreens closed, and wonder if this was a lease issue, or if Walgreens is scaling back.
tesg
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Re: Vancouver, WA Sudden Walgreens closure?

Post by tesg »

Walgreen's has been moving out of, and away from, strip malls for some time now, preferring standalone locations on high visibility corners.

It's not unheard of for them to simply close a store instead of replacing it if they don't feel the new store will be worth the bother.

The haphazard entry of the Paws-n-Claws was probably not a hasty Walgreen's departure so much as a thrifty move for the Paws-n-Claws with no renovation budget.
Super S
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Re: Vancouver, WA Sudden Walgreens closure?

Post by Super S »

I know that Walgreens prefers standalone locations, and most of the Hi-School Pharmacy locations were in strip malls. However, some of the locations that received the more extensive remodels are located in strip malls. I found this move odd because Walgreens has been expanding pretty quickly in this region. The purchase of the Hi-School stores gave Walgreens a strong presence fairly quickly, and this location didn't have a competing store in the vicinity or anything.
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