Walgreen Co. is opening its first Big Island store in Hilo on Sunday.

The 14,980-square-foot location in the former Borders site at the corner of Makaala Street and Kanoelehua Avenue will be the seventh full-service Walgreens drugstore in the islands.

"Our goal is to eventually open 25 to 30 stores to serve residents of Hawaii," said Scott Sutton, Walgreens Hawaii district manager. Walgreens, which has 10 stores in Hawaii, has as many as nine projects in the works throughout the islands.

In October, Walgreens purchased the former Servco Pacific Inc. dealership in Wahiawa, consisting of 69,887 square feet of land on Kamehameha Highway, for $3.1 million.

The Deerfield, Ill.-based drugstore chain acquired in August Safeway Inc.’s Hono­lulu site on Pensacola and Beretania streets for $22.5 million to open another Oahu store in 2012.

The company opened its first Hawaii store at the corner of Kapiolani and Keeaumoku Streets in 2007. Since then, it has expanded full-service Oahu locations in Kaneohe and Kailua in 2008 and in Kalihi in 2009. Walgreens added full-service stores on Maui, one in Lahaina in 2009 and in Kahului in 2010.

It also operates pharmacy-only stores in Lahaina and Wailuku on Maui, and in Waipahu. Those locations opened in 2009.

The Hilo store will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily with pharmacy hours from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

At its grand opening celebration on Sunday, Walgreens said it will donate $10,000 to the University of Hawaii-Hilo College of Pharmacy.

Walgreens is the nation’s largest drugstore chain, generating sales of $67 billion in fiscal 2010. The company operates 7,697 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.