Long-Awaited Perry Hall Walgreens to Open Friday
After more than two years of construction, Perry Hall's second Walgreens is set to open.
Perry Hall's second Walgreens will open to the public on Friday, and a grand opening celebration is scheduled for October, a store worker confirmed.
As of Wednesday afternoon, a sign on the front door read, "WALGREENS will be opening Friday, September 14th Thank You & Be Well!"
Prep work on the store at 8650 Belair Road and Silver Spring Road began more than two years ago.
In 2010, Wayne Lauman, past owner of Direct Home Furnishings, formerly Lauman's Furniture, sold the property to the Walgreens corporation. A lengthy demolition process followed.
The Walgreens' opening was originally anticipated for the winter of 2011-2012. Repeated delays, however, pushed it back to the fall.
Store representatives have declined to comment on the cause of delays.
The new store is about 14,550 square feet and is expected to lead to between 25 and 30 new hires, according to company representatives.
It will be Perry Hall's second Walgreens, just two miles from an existing store, and join a list of at least 10 drug stores in the community.
Its construction has drawn ire from some residents, causing one Patch reader to suggest the community change its welcome signs to read: "Welcome to Perry Hall, a great place to get your prescriptions filled!"
But this level of concentration isn't uncommon, company spokesperson Tiffani Washington told Patch in June 2011. Nearly two-thirds of Americans live within three miles of a Walgreens.
The store's placement is the result of extensive research and is likely in response to Perry Hall's aging population, Washington said, adding that prescription drugs account for 65 percent of the company's total sales.
Do you plan to shop at the new store? Which Perry Hall pharmacy is your favorite? Tell us in the comments.
Gomer Pyle
10:18 am on Thursday, September 13, 2012
YES!!!!! FINALLY!!!!! Perry Hall has desperately needed a pharmacy for some time now. Hopefully if the Butts' Hardware site ever comes up for sale, we will get another sorely needed pharmacy as there is too great a gap to go from Silver Spring to Chapel Rd. :P
Tim
11:12 am on Thursday, September 13, 2012
LOL @ long awaited. Perhaps by the suburbian drug addicts/producers.
Other Tim
5:36 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012
The powers-that-be should have never permitted another drug store to be built in Perry Hall. They should have allowed the furniture store to go out of business and left the property to sit empty like so many others properties in Perry Hall. Forget all the demographic studies. They should have asked Tim and Corey if they should build another Walgreens in Perry Hall. Tim and Corey won't go there. Surely they will fail.
Tim
9:08 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012
A nice patch of trees would be 500% better then this for the community appearance. This 15000 square societal cesspool is providing all of 30 jobs, and the bulk of those at under 10 bucks an hour.
I could care less about the demographics, it's more to do with dragging down the value of the neighborhood I live in. Dollar stores and drugstores are not exactly bastions of an upper middle class neighborhood. I see stuff like this, and it just concerns me that we're going to turn into Overlea in another 15 years.
Ryan
4:14 am on Friday, September 14, 2012
Tim, who would pay for this property to be full of trees? All the nitwits on Patch have great ideas, but it seems no one actually has the plan in place for how to pay for everything.
Tim
10:44 am on Friday, September 14, 2012
Ryan: Who's the nitwit?
The people with other ideas, or the namecaller who fails at reading comprehension?
I said "A nice patch of trees would be 500% better then this for the community appearance."
Nothing more, nothing less.
8th grade reading comprehension doesn't cut it around here.
Ryan
11:06 am on Friday, September 14, 2012
I guess my comprehension thought you would not talk about things that you just wanted. Next thread I guess I will just tell everyone that there would be less pollution if we flattened Seven Courts and replanted trees (it’s a true statement, just no way it will ever happen, similar to your post).
What exactly was the point of your post if you were just throwing out an idea that you knew was completely infeasible?
And now I feel bullied because you made fun of my reading level. Lets hope my Obamacare will pay for my shrink visits.
Grace B.
7:44 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
"Dollar stores and drugstores are not exactly bastions of an upper middle class neighborhood. I see stuff like this, and it just concerns me that we're going to turn into Overlea in another 15 years."
Perry Hall is far from an "upper middle class neighborhood." It's a blue collar to median middle class neighborhood, and the businesses that are coming to the area are perfectly suited to its demographics. Perry Hall is nothing more than a northeastern suburban extension of Overlea and Rosedale.
Tim
10:03 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
Grace B: Our quality of schools and home prices say otherwise.
Although it's definitely heading in that direction - slowly but surely.
Evets
8:10 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012
I'll be there Saturday morning stocking up on Gummi Bears and Swedish Fish for my long bike rides. Hope they have a Red Box, as well. Nice to be able to walk to get my just-released movies. And with Tim and Corey staying away, the lines should be short.
Tim
9:06 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012
Weis has two Red Boxes in the rare occasion we use them, so you're good :)
Brad Nicholson
8:28 am on Friday, September 14, 2012
At least Perry Hall doesn't have a 3rd CVS being built within a half mile distance of road. A NEW CVS is being built on the southwest corner of Harford & Joppa Rds. because CVS does not have a drive-thru pharmacy (while its neighbor Walgreens does). There is one 1000 ft away to the north and 2 blocks to the south, talk about saturation (but the original two will probably be closed). That intersection will become a HUGE nightmare.
Brad Nicholson
8:29 am on Friday, September 14, 2012
I also know the manager at the new Walgreens and he is a REALLY DECENT guy. He is a Perry Hall "local".
Other Tim
9:35 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012
Thanks, Grace B. It had to be said.
AllStar
1:38 am on Monday, September 17, 2012
Why do people keep railing about new businesses coming to Perry Hall? More businesses are good for our community and it's not like we are destroying wildlife refuges to get them here. Wildlife, nature, and open space are wonderful, but there are simply too many people living in and around Perry Hall to tear down businesses and replace them with trees.