Southside Pride

After 20 years at 1235 E. Franklin Avenue, the Walgreen Drug Store closed its doors for good on New Year’s Eve at 7 o’clock. According to Gail Thompson, director of operations at the American Indian Neighborhood Development Corporation, the loss of the pharmacy will have a huge impact on the neighborhood. The AINBC, which owns the building (as well as the strip of locations connected to it and the adjacent Ancient Traders Market), has worked hard to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood and feels that by and large they have been successful. Healthy businesses and good tenants like Walgreens, Maria’s, the Black Mesa coffee shop and many attractive stores, have drawn a lot of traffic to the area. Thompson stated that drug dealing and prostitution have virtually disappeared.

“It is very sad to see Walgreens go,” she said. “Maybe devastating is too strong a word, maybe not. The neighborhood definitely needs a pharmacy.”

Robert Albe, Assistant Director of American Indian Housing and Community Development Corporation, confirmed the need for a pharmacy in the neighborhood. A logical reason to have a pharmacy there is that three doctors will soon be opening a clinic right next door.
But the main reason, he said, is that many pedestrians, handicapped and disabled people live in the area surrounding the drug store; a building at 21st and Bloomington (one and one-half blocks away) has 90 handicapped units. Many people come to fill prescriptions in wheelchairs.

In its final hours, the store posted a huge sign outside that advised people to get medications at any other Walgreen store in the city, which would, of course, be possible for people who travel by car. Albe said the nearest pharmacy is one and one-half miles away. “Try that in a wheelchair.”

Albe, who has worked as a journalist in northern Wisconsin, on channel 2, KFAI, and who started the American Indian station WOJB in Wisconsin, learned about the closing from Walgreen staff at the end of November.

According to Albee, the store manager told the Franklin Avenue business organization the store was closing because of too much shoplifting. When attorneys from the American Indian Housing and Community Development Corporation talked to corporate headquarters, they learned that Walgreen Drug Stores are getting out of strip malls and going to major intersections.

Another reason given for closing, said Thompson of the AINDC, was poor financial performance.

Neighborhood activist, JoAnn Hell, spoke to the store manager who said the closing had something to do with the lease. She also spoke with the branch manager who said they really wanted to stay.

Hell didn’t know the store was closing until December 30, at which time she quickly wrote a letter to Mayor Rybak. In the reply it was stated that Walgreen Drug Store’s official reason for closing was that they were “moving out of shopping centers across the country in favor of free standing locations.”

What will happen in the immediate future? So far, no definite plans have been made. According to the mayor’s reply to Hell, the City, since it learned of the closing in early December, has been in contact with individuals interested in opening an independent pharmacy. The reply also stated that the AINDC had been contacted by several potential tenants. Thompson of the AINDC said their priority is to get another drug store. Plans are up in the air but they are looking at ways to get one back in place. She stated with confidence, “We need to fill a community need, and we’ll find a way to do it.”

I would think any business would like to locate in that mall just for aesthetic reasons. It’s one of my favorite spots in the Twin Cities. The Black Mesa takes me to the American Southwest, Maria’s takes me to Colombia and the Indian art gallery in the Ancient Traders Market has one beautiful show after another.

Apparently the move suited the goals of corporate Walgreens. As I see it, any business should try to do three important things: make a living, provide necessary goods and services of adequate (or better) quality, and create an affirmative, healthy working environment.

A business doesn’t have to make lavish profits but it needs to produce a livelihood. How much is enough is always the question. Albe says a company shouldn’t expect to make as much in the inner city as in a wealthier area; maybe there should be a federal write-off for providing a needed service to the inner city.

A company should have a relationship with the people it serves and balance their needs with its own needs for profits. Does Walgreen Drug Store feel all stores need to bring in the same amount of profit? How much could it vary to make room for special needs? Albe said he feels corporate Walgreens “doesn’t give a rip about the people it serves.”

However, Walgreens cares about its employees. The store manager told me that all 24 employees at the Franklin Avenue store will go to other Walgreen jobs in relatively nearby stores.