Walgreens will not be adding a new store in Derby, the company confirmed Wednesday.
The company received approvals to build a standalone Walgreens in 2012 at Red Raider Plaza, a shopping center the company owns at the intersection of Pershing Drive and Division Street.
A Walgreens corporate spokesman said the company’s “business strategy has shifted and changed” since Walgreens purchased Red Raider Plaza in 2007.
Part of that shift and change — eliminating the store planned for Derby.
“We intend to continue with the redevelopment work we’re doing, but at this point we do not intend to put a Walgreens store in the area,” said Phil Caruso, a Walgreens spokesman.
But the news could throw a monkey wrench into the redevelopment of Red Raider Plaza, as the Walgreens pharmacy was supposed to be “phase two” of a major overhaul of the shopping center.
Walgreen Eastern Co., a subsidiary of the Walgreen Company, received approvals from Derby in March 2012 to redevelop Red Raider Plaza.
The plans called for a complete reconfiguration of the shopping plaza. The building that formerly housed XPect Discounts is being renovated from the inside out into a structure that will hold about seven retail tenants, including a Planet Fitness.
That was “phase one” of the redevelopment plan, and it is currently under construction.
The second phase involved tearing down the strip mall that’s home to Radio Shack, a fried chicken restaurant, a laundromat and a smoke shop. A standalone Walgreens was supposed to be constructed on that part of the property.
But now Walgreens has abandoned “phase two,” meaning the site plans approved by the city is not what the company is building.
Carlo Sarmiento, Derby’s building official, said the issue will be discussed at a meeting of the Derby Planning and Zoning Commission scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 16.
Sarmiento said Derby City Hall learned about the Walgreens pullout about a week ago during a meeting with representatives from DLC Management Corp of White Plains, N.Y.
That company has been developing the site for Walgreens, according to Sarmiento.
Sarmiento said city officials were told “Walgreens merged with another company, and due to the merger, there has been a freeze on all projects.”
According to the New York Times, Walgreens is taking over another pharmacy chain.
That merger is still underway, according to Walgreens.
The company was recently lauded for its decision not to relocate its headquarters outside the U.S., a move it was considering to shed its tax burden.
DLC Management has been marketing the redeveloped shopping center as being “anchored” by a Walgreens Pharmacy. It’s now a project without an anchor store.
Emails seeking comment were sent to DLC Management.
Derby officials said plans to build an Aldi grocery store and a Panera Bread at the site of the former Valley Bowl, next to Red Raider Plaza, are still happening.
