Walgreens to celebrate 2 new isle stores

Grand openings are scheduled for July 14 for two new Walgreens stores on Oahu.

The Deerfield, Ill.-based drugstore chain opened its 24-hour, 22,500-square-foot store at 1613 Nuuanu Ave. on June 1.

It will open another 24-hour, 14,600-square-foot store with a drive-thru pharmacy in Ewa Beach on June 30. Both stores will employ about 30 workers, Walgreen Co. spokes­man Robert Elfinger said.

A third location, in Wai­luku on Maui, will open next spring or summer with 14,500 square feet of space and a drive-thru pharmacy.

Meanwhile, Walgreens is preparing to demolish and rebuild a store on the corner of Kee­au­moku Street and Kapiolani Boulevard that opened in 2007. That was the first Walgreens to open in Hawaii. The store will reopen late next year.

The company has 15 stores in the state and will have 17 once the Ewa Beach and Wai­luku stores open. Walgreens also plans to open a store in Lihue but hasn’t said when.