After more than 30 years on Main Street, the downtown Concord CVS Pharmacy location is set to close on Jan. 8.
Landlord Mark Ciborowski said he was disappointed when he first heard from local CVS employees last week that the national drugstore chain plans to close the downtown site, as part of a three-year plan that to shutter 900 retail locations.
People who live and work in downtown Concord get prescriptions and other needed items at that CVS location, Ciborowski said. Other downtown merchants have told him the pharmacy draws customers to their businesses.
“It’s hard to dispute that CVS is the most important store on Main Street,” Ciborowski said.
The lack of prior notice from the chain and the timing of the closure as COVID cases are on the rise going into the winter has frustrated Ciborowski.
“I got my booster there, a lot of people got their boosters there,” he said. “With the climate here, with this pandemic, you would think they would delay it a bit.”
Ciborowski hopes CVS will consider extending the lease to provide more time to find a new tenant. “Obviously we would love for them to stay downtown permanently, but even if that wasn’t possible, to give us more time to plan so we don’t have a hole,” he said.
Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce President Tim Sink said that in order to create a viable downtown where people want to go, a mix of retail businesses is essential.
“You need a couple of things in a downtown to make it convenient for market-rate housing,” Sink said. “You need a grocery store, which we have, Market Basket, and you need a pharmacy.”
The Chamber of Commerce and the city of Concord both sent letters to CVS CEO Karen Lynch this week asking the company to reconsider closing the store. Ciborowski encourages other residents concerned about the departure of the downtown pharmacy to write to the company, which is based in Rhode Island.
In the city’s letter, Deputy City Manager Carlos Baia wrote that Concord had invested $14 million to rebuild Main Street in recent years, creating a more pleasing streetscape and attracting new residential and commercial development.
“With CVS’ closure, a significant hole will be ripped in the fabric of our downtown,” Baia wrote. “This specific CVS served a wide cross-section of our community, including many who do not have a vehicle, whether by choice or due to physical or financial limitations. During this global pandemic, this CVS was an increasingly vital institution for those residents as well as for the hundreds of residents that work within walking distance of this store.”
Mayor Jim Bouley said that he was concerned about the consequences of the CVS closure for the rest of downtown.
“It’s an important anchor downtown and I would like to see CVS reconsider and give us more time to plan,” Bouley said. “The CVS on Main Street is one of the few places that is kind of a utility store for all of those people who work downtown. There are other stores but they’re a little bit further out of the way.”
CVS has other locations in the city, including a location on Loudon Road, and another larger store on Hall Street, about one mile south of the downtown store.
A CVS spokesman said the decision to close the store at 46 N. Main St. was a difficult one.
“The closure of this store is not a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our employees,” said spokesman Mike DeAngelis. “In fact, all employees have been offered and have accepted positions at other CVS locations nearby.”
All prescriptions will be transferred to the Hall Street location, he said
“We understand the disappointment of our closing store’s neighbors and customers,” DeAngelis said in a statement. “We are committed to the Concord area and will continue to provide the community with outstanding service at four other CVS Pharmacy locations in the city, including inside Target stores.”
In the long run, Ciborowski and city leaders agree that a future renovation of the squat brick building would be a welcome change for the downtown’s aesthetic.
“The building is actually ugly,” Ciborowski said. “My long-term plan and vision is to build a new version in that site, because it is kind of a gap tooth in the skyline.”
However, Ciborowski said he is not prepared to redo the building now, especially with supply-chain disruptions raising the prices involved in construction.
“Them leaving is not going to be a kickstart for that to happen now, because between the construction costs and the pandemic, if anything it’s just going to leave a big vacancy downtown,” he said.