St. Thomas reader Pamela Heath asked, “When is the new Walgreens going to open?”
The corporate giant put up a sign in Tutu across from McDonald’s and the entrance to the Tutu Park Mall nearly two years ago, announcing that it was building its first ever outlet in the Virgin Islands. In August of 2011, the official projected opening date was fall of 2012.
As that time approached and it became apparent the building wasn’t anywhere near completion, the target for opening changed to “early 2013.”
Now nearly half-way through 2013, work continues at the site. Progress is obvious; the roof recently got a coating of red tile and it looks like an entrance/exit is going in, separate from the one for the nearby First Bank building.
The St. Thomas outlet may really be near ready, but corporation officials clearly aren’t ready to make any announcements.
The local attorney for the project, Tom Bolt, said a number of Walgreens officials are expected to travel to St. Thomas in mid-May, but he could not give a date for the store opening.
It took two days and numerous calls and emails to Walgreens media representatives to get a single return.
On Wednesday, Walgreens media representative Jim Graham said, “We’re excited about the new store.” But he said he’d have to call back Thursday with information on an opening date. Late Thursday, after more calls from the Source, he called back to say he needed some more time to find out anything about the St. Thomas store.
When the project was originally announced, Walgreens said the store would be 15,660 square feet, would employ 25 to 30 people, and would offer a wide range of pharmaceuticals and notions. Later officials said the site would include a convenience store.
According to a March 2013 press release from Walgreens announcing the opening of an outlet in Evanston, Ill., Walgreens has 8,071 stores in the 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. It serves 6 million customers daily and logged $72 billion in sales in Fiscal Year 2012.
