CHICAGO—Walgreens today opened its doors to its newest flagship store in the city, located within the Noel State Bank building at the northwest corner of North and Damen avenues in Chicago’s Bucktown/Wicker Park neighborhood.
The bank building, constructed in 1919, was designed in a neo-classical style. The property has housed several different banks over the decades, the last being Midwest Bank, which closed several years ago.
This is Walgreens second flagship store in Chicago and, like its downtown State and Randolph flagship location, features an extensive collection of innovative offerings, products and services unexpected from a drugstore. Amenities at the store include a café, juice bar, sushi bar and the Vitamin Vault, with a technologically-advanced pharmacy (with iPad health guides and consultation rooms) located in the former, and still working, bank safe area.
“It was thrilling to restore this architectural gem once again into a thriving business anchor in the Bucktown/Wicker Park area,” said Joe Magnacca, Walgreens president of daily living products and solutions. “It’s the latest example of how we are stepping out of the traditional drugstore format and helping people get, stay and live well.”
He said his company has worked closely with the city’s Commission on Chicago Landmarks on the building restoration. The exterior is clad entirely in ornamental terra cotta. Large windows are divided by rising pilasters topped with Corinthian capitals, and a prominent cornice wraps around the rounded corner of the building. Extensive restoration took place on the building’s coffered plaster ceiling, which features abundant non-symmetrical hexagons that frame griffins and other ornate designs.
The Deerfield, Ill.-based drugstore chain operates 8,030 stores throughout the country, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.