WALGREENS SuperStore Center City at Broad & Chestnut is Now Open. (ie remember when I told you this was going to happen, over the City’s Dead Body, it did)

July 31, 2013 by HughE Dillon 1 Comment

ANTICIPATION

Last year I wrote about Walgreens taking over the old Border’s Bookstore (with floor plans). Many people said it would never happened, especially the City. They really wanted a high end store to go in this location.

I told you that many companies looked at the space, but didn’t want it. They didn’t like the mezanine, the didn’t like the long distance it took to go from the front door to the 3rd floor. They didn’t like the steepish escalators. At the time Walgreens was changing its marketing concept, to a bigger, bolder, flagship model. They were going into a lot of the old Border’s Bookstores, covering up the windows as they would do with any of their popular brand named stores.

Months and a year went by, and finally the City and Walgreens brokered a deal, and what was opened today at Broad and Chestnut Streets is a beautiful store, with an eclectic collection of products that will appeal to all different purchasers. From Starbucks, to milk, to original molding, Fro-yo, Twinkies, cosmetics, passport photos, prescriptions, chandeliers, to frozen pizza, to windows showcasing more of a City view than even Border’s Bookstore did. A Walgreens like no other, where management and the City worked hard to reach an agreement which was best for Philadelphian’s.

I love all these ode’s to our fair City

munchies for the students that live in the dorms that line Broad Street

Milk, but not raw milk. Mike will still have to head to the Reading Terminal for that.

Batteries, memory cards, personal mp3 players, head phones

Make-up on the third floor

with a view of the Ritz Hotel

seasonal clothing

Candles and Laundry Detergent

When I initially posted the floor plans, there was a beer take-out, but now there’s just beer t-shirts

The only DVD rental place for blocks

The only over priced item I saw was the pretzels. If it’s between 7AM and 3PM, head over to Sue’s vendor truck at Broad & City Hall for a $.50 pretzel

I remember writing about sushi being served, but I didn’t see any there.

Hello gorgeous on the mezzanine!!

And only $3.99 small, $4.99 for a large. It’s not weighed, just a small or large cup. That’s a bargain.

The opening ceremony was full of suits

There’s the mayor. He worked in a drugstore when he was younger, and he said this was not your mothers drugstore. This was modern, fresh and innovated. He said when this was a Border’s Book Store, he used to come in and feed his mind; now as a Walgreen’s he’ll be feeding his body, especially with some of the Walgreen healthy choice menu items.