Walgreens Planning Three Area Stores

Walgreens, America’s largest and fastest-growing retail pharmacy chain, is coming into Northwest Arkansas with plans for stores in Springdale and Rogers, and the company is still scouting for a location in Fayetteville.

“We like to open stores to cover a market,” says Michael Polzin, a spokesman for Walgreens. “We may not open them all at once, but generally we don’t go in with just one store. We try to serve the entire market.”

Construction of a 15,000-SF Walgreens store was approved by the Springdale Planning Commission last April. Details are still being ironed out with the city engineer before construction begins. The building, at the intersection of Thompson Street and Robinson Avenue, is scheduled to be completed next summer, says Polzin.

A large-scale development was approved April 4 by the Rogers Planning Commission for construction of a 16,000-SF Walgreens store at 1720 W. Walnut St. (at the intersection of Dixieland Road). The plans will then go before city building inspectors prior to construction.

Plans for a Walgreens in Fayetteville were scuttled after property Walgreens needed for the development was purchased by a local pharmacist, who refused to sell to his competitor. We hear Walgreens is still looking for a site in Fayetteville, although Polzin says he can’t confirm that.

Polzin says Walgreens plans to open 280 stores in 1998, with most of that growth being in the Southeast, Southwest and Western regions of the country. The company plans to open about one store a day in 1999.