AutoZone is coming to Seymour.
The chain auto parts retailer wants to open in the former Walgreens on Wakelee Street, a company spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.
Carolyn Thaemert, a pre-construction specialist for the Memphis-based company, said they expect to sign a lease next week.
“It’s 7,800 square feet — about in the middle for us,” Thaemert said.
Thaemert said the store would create six jobs.
Fire Marshal Paul Wetowitz said he was currently working with the construction company on fire code compliance for the shop, which will be housed in about half of the old Walgreens. The site is downtown, in a small shopping plaza next to Town Hall.
The former Walgreen’s has sat empty more than a year since the store moved to a new, larger facility — with a drive through window — down the road on Route 67.
Seymour residents had wondered what was going to take the place of the former downtown drugstore, in a shopping center that also includes a laundromat, a Chinese takeout kitchen, a bank, a hair salon and an H&R Block tax accounting office.
Bill Purcell, the president of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce, said he’s “delighted” to see the spot filled.
“That’s a pivotal space in downtown Seymour,” Purcell said. “It was heartbreaking to see it empty.”
The store is the first thing drivers see when they get off Route 8 at exit 22, Purcell said, and the building is one of the downtown’s biggest retail spots.
“Hopefully it will drive foot traffic into the downtown area. Pun intended,” Purcell said.
The new AutoZone will be the second in the Valley. The other one in Derby is on Division Street.
Walgreens was not the only pharmacy in town that moved in order to get a drive-through.
CVS recently reopened on Route 67, leaving its original location in the Klarides Village vacant.
