Is Walgreens invading? It is no longer a secret that the firm is looking to take out a block of Delaware near Delevan, but now we’re hearing that they are also eyeing the northwest corner of Grant and Ferry Streets on the westside. Judy Einach has the scoop on Yahoo’s BuffaloIssuesAlerts:
If Walgreen’s plan is to drive out the competition and get a lock on market share, this location fits the bill. Not only is there a relatively new Eckerd across the street – a big box newbuild not adhering to good streetscape guidelines that took down one of the finest dance studios in Buffalo and a nice looking corner building to boot – there’s also a Rite-Aid just a couple of blocks away on Grant.
Should Walgreens win this, if this is the corporate plan, we’d sacrifice a corner restaurant that does a good business serving the neighborhood and the baking location of Russ’s Pastry which also has a small but steady retail business from this location and one of the cutest old time coffee shop interiors…aside from the pitch for donuts, in this case as in the case against a Walgreens at Gates Circle (that’s entirely absurd) we’d lose local businesses, the very thing we want to keep and expand.
Remarkably, Grant St. has a good streetscape pretty much in tact. Needs a lot of improvement, but the bones are excellent. It’s a commercial area waiting to happen. Walgreen’s is not the answer – assuming Walgreen’s is eyeing the area.
Founded in 1901, Walgreens has 5,000 stores in the U.S. Its fiscal 2005 sales totaled $42.2 billion. The corner drugstore being an independent pharmacist is an era that’s gone by, but do we need a national chain on every major corner, and in some cases two? Worse, what the chain is likely to propose is a “formula store” meaning it is exactly what is built and characteristic of “suburbia.”
Be afraid.