High on Coke
Published by Jeff September 6th, 2006 in News.
Workers on the roof of the old Coca-Cola building work steadily Wednesday morning tearing down the old facility. In recent weeks, they’ve systematically removed metal siding and dismantled the large wings east of the building’s facade on Highway 425. The building has been purchased by Walgreens.
Carol Hively, in media relations at Walgreens, confirmed the purchase of the facility and related that the company is planning the new facility for a fall 2007 opening. There are currently 36 Walgreens in Arkansas. Hively said that Walgreens is growing quickly, opening a new store every 18 days.
Walgreens ranked No. 1 among food and drugstores for the eighth consecutive year, and was listed for the 13th consecutive year in Fortune Magazine in March 2006. A typical Walgreens store is 14,500 – 14,800 square feet, which includes 11,000 square feet of sales area, and carries more than 25,000 consumable items and necessities. Each unit employs 25 to 30 people and averages $7.9 million in annual sales. Nationwide, Walgreens drugstores serve 4 million customers daily.
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I haven’t seen where Walgreen’s has admitted this much. Kudos on breaking the story. I heard that it was going to be a distribution center.
Progress is great, we all know Monticello needs progress; however, I hope it doesn’t have the negative effect I anticipate it will have on the local-owned drugstores.
One could argue that any time a new business arrives in a small town it may have a “negative effect” on similar businesses. Fortuntely, it is this very free enterprise system which keeps businesses fair to consumers. I think that having another growing business hanging the proverbial shingle in Monticello is something to be happy about. We need the commerce. However, I’m not immediately moving my business away from City Drug, with whom I’ve been very pleased. People will continue to go where the best service is; that’s what free enterprise guarantees us.