Suspense over: Walgreens construction begins
April 5, 2008
For some time now there has been suspicion and rumor about the long vacant Mariotti Auto Laundry which seemed to have opened and closed just as quickly.
The building located at 2801 N Ponce de Leon Blvd. and the vacant shopping center located behind the building (that at one time housed a Lil’ Champ convenience store) are both owned by Deerfield, IL pharmacy behemoth Walgreens.
With the recent construction of CVS Pharmacy on the opposing corner at State Road 16 (the former Marty’s Restaurant site) speculation was widespread that Walgreens would never break ground. Those concerns appear to have been for naught as demolition of the old buildings began this week.
According to information available on the company website, Walgreens recorded strong Easter seasonal sales, and front-end sales exceeded expectations for the month despite the slowing economy. Walgreens opened 39 stores during March, including five relocations. The company acquired one store and closed one.
Photo credit Historic City Media news reporter: Kerry McGuire
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I truly felt sorry for Lance and David when the car wash couldn’t make it.
Both the future Walgreens and new CVS locations are awkward to navigate. It will be interesting to see how they lay out the entrances and exits to the Walgreens store. The car wash traffic plan was abysmal.
I’m still learning how to get in an out of the CVS and find it virtually impossible - without new curb cuts - if you are headed north on Ponce.
I kinda suspect that the Walgreens will serve the SR16 West and beyond market, whilst the CVS will serve those heading in the US1 South direction.
I don’t know Lance, but in speaking with several veterans of the car wash chemical/supply industry, David wasn’t very open to good business practices and took a rather smug approach to the mechanical design. The exit (as reported, I never went there personally) was only one car length short of the used car dealer and the small street seperating them. Just one of many issues, I heard.
Meanwhile, you can’t hardly get into the Showboat Car Wash, the queue of cars is always long. Business is thriving there…for whatever the differences are.