The interior fit-out of the new CVS Pharmacy at 7235 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda is finally making some progress. Chandeliers left from the previous bank tenant would make this the classiest CVS ever, but are likely to be removed in favor of typical retail lighting. You can already see the trademark CVS red on one of the walls. My guess is all those boxes are filled with CVS register receipt paper.
Wow. They're moving along pretty quickly now.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope they keep the chandeliers, and I hope they open the blinds facing Wisconsin and do not block the tall windows with merchandise shelves. I visited a CVS one time in a city that required transparent windows in their storefront and “open” shelving that you could see into the store from the outside. Their solution complied, but they added extremely bright lights in the back of the cabinets, blinding folks walking by on the sidewalk. It seems the store designers at CVS only focus on selling the absolute maximum amount of candy bars and cheap sunglasses.
ReplyDeleteI hope this urban format CVS breaks the trend, and creates a classy retail space, in the spirit of great old drugstores of the past. Somehow I bet they won’t have a long soda fountain counter though…
Have to admit I find the placement of this CVS branch of great interest. It is more equally placed between the one on Arlington road the other on Wisconsin north of East West Highway that the old CVS on the corner of Bradley and Wisconsin (now the Jeep dealership). But with limited parking at this location, they clearly are banking on walk-ins from local businesses and apartments.
ReplyDeleteClassy because it used to be a Riggs. Tough parking there. Whoa! Remember Riggs though? That was a better time when homeless people weren't entering CVS and loading backpacks with laundry detergent and walking right out the door. And a time when you could leave any restaurant on Bethesda Row and not fear that you'd be car jacked at gunpoint. Times have indeed changed. But yes, that may be the nicest CVS in the country
ReplyDeleteWhat are the plans for the other two stand-alone CVS stores (on Wisconsin and Bradley)? There's also a CVS pharmacy within the Target a couple of blocks from the new store.
ReplyDeleteJust wondering.
The CVS on Arlington will surely remain. They do a brisk business and it can be hard to find parking at many times of day (because people don't know you can use the garage also -- CVS validates).
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