Walgreens Expanding Into Space Along Main Street

The business moving into vacant retail space along Main Street next to Walgreens—is Walgreens.

The pharmacy chain, which opened its doors in Madison about seven months ago, has signed a lease agreement to occupy the remainder of the first floor of the building at Main Street and Greenwood Avenue, the building's owner said Monday.

The expansion will give the store more visibility and bring the main entrance to the corner of Main Street and Greenwood Avenue. The change will involve knocking out a wall that separates Walgreens from the vacant space and rotating the pharmacy section 90 degrees, said Arthur Metzler of AMA Consulting Engineers, which developed and owns the property, and has its offices on the second floor.

Metzler said AMA's preference was always to have Walgreens using the entire first floor.

"We're very pleased to have Walgreens expanding," he said.

The store plans to stay open during renovations, and Metzler said he expects the expansion to be completed by around the beginning of October.

Walgreens assistant manager Ketan Patel said the store plans to broaden its selections, including in its Hallmark and seasonal aisles, when the store expands.

Walgreens could seek approvals for additional signage.

A zoning permit application for the expansion was filed last month and approved by the borough June 24. The response from borough zoning officer Frank Russo noted the first floor windows need to be kept clear as a condition of the building's approval by the Planning Board in April 2010:

"The tenant is reminded of their obligations, as described in condition (o) of the 2010 resolution of approval, as it relates to the merchandising visible in the first floor windows. That condition reads as follows:

"'All first floor windows shall be constructed of clear non-reflective glass and shall be configured to support merchandising visible to pedestrians. No display case shall be permitted to back up to or block the windows, nor shall more than one window per public street frontage be blocked at any one time. Such blocked windows shall be outfitted with a retail display box and shall only be used to display merchandise sold on the premises or used for seasonal displays and/or artwork.'"