Walgreens sneaks in
Cole Valley residents get a surprising – and unwanted – new neighbor.

By Marisa Handler

'BOYCOTT' reads the graffiti, black letters marring the pristine white on two walls of the controversial new Walgreens in Cole Valley. The store is set to open in November.

"Am I surprised at the graffiti? No," says Dave Wolf, manager of the Real Foods a block away. "I've heard from a lot of people who are outraged they're moving in. I won't be shopping there." Tracy Bonnet, manager of Pharmaca, an integrative pharmacy mere blocks from the new Walgreens, agrees. "I think it's poor business for them to move into the community without going through the proper channels. I'm sure it will impact their business."

Many residents didn't know Walgreens was entering Cole Valley until recently, although the deal went through almost a year ago. "Normally, when a business moves in, there are clear signs of what it will be. We were surprised because there was no prior notice," neighborhood activist Angie Geiger says. As a rule, any new stores more than 5,000 square feet are subject to a conditional-use review that allows for a neighborhood's input. However, despite the fact the Walgreens at Stanyan and Parnassus Streets is 6,600 square feet, it escaped review because it was taking over a space that was previously occupied by a retail establishment.

"This feels like a very shady approach to doing business," says Elana Auerbach, another neighborhood activist. "They got in under our noses, without anyone knowing." Joan Downey, who was president of the Cole Valley Improvement Association (CVIA) at the time, agrees. "Because we weren't notified until after they signed the lease and had permits, there wasn't much we could do other than work with them to get concessions. They were willing to negotiate on things that didn't get in the way of their corporate method of doing business."

Walgreens did agree to use smaller signage and dimmer lighting. Nonetheless, "they were perfunctory and reactionary," says James Bagi, vice president of the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council and president of SF5 Together, a coalition of neighborhood groups and merchants serving District Five. "They didn't initiate contact with the community. They just responded to a negative P.R. situation."

The Stanyan Street Group, convened by Auerbach and Geiger, sent out 50 surveys to gauge neighborhood response to the situation. Twenty-three were returned; of these, 8 were opposed to Walgreens moving in, while 11 supported the move if Walgreens addressed community concerns. "We live on Stanyan and have watched all the private pharmacies close," one neighbor wrote. "Our favorite druggist closed up shop and went to work for Safeway stores. We welcome Walgreens to the neighborhood and will use it. Sometimes you have to go with a changing world, and the little independents aren't here for us any more."

But, Geiger says, "a majority of those who said they supported the opening of Walgreens if signage and parking were handled correctly did so only because they felt it was too late to prevent the store from opening."

Concerns about parking remain strong. The Cole Valley fire station is a block away: increased traffic to the area will invariably slow its response time. In talks with the CVIA, Walgreens refused to restripe the parking lot so as not to lose spaces. Management assured the CVIA that if traffic proves to be a problem, it'd be willing to sit down and talk about it.

A couple of members of the Stanyan Street Group organized a letter-writing campaign. "We felt that what the CVIA had asked for from Walgreens was fairly timid," says resident Mark Landerghini, who helped with the campaign. "We asked for concessions on signage, windows, and for them to plant some trees – nothing very expensive." There was no response from Bill Hose, the Walgreens district manager to whom the letter was addressed. He also did not return calls to the Bay Guardian.

In response to indignation generated by Walgreens' underhanded move, Sup. Matt Gonzalez introduced legislation requiring coffee shops and drugstores to notify neighborhoods of intent to move in. This legislation was passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Aug. 8. A second piece of legislation is pending that would require all "formula businesses" to notify neighborhoods of intent to move in, along with a design review. It would also ban formula businesses entirely from Cole Valley and Hayes Valley (which successfully trounced an attempt by Starbucks to move in). "We hope this legislation will ensure stores like Walgreens won't sneak up on people again," says Amy Laitinen, legislative aide to Gonzalez. The formula-business legislation is set to be reviewed by the Planning Commission Nov. 20.

Walgreens has 64 stores in San Francisco and has contracts for two new stores: one at Powell and Sutter Streets, the second at Paris and Geneva Streets. Nationally, Walgreens owns 4,120 stores in 44 states (and Puerto Rico). In July its fiscal year sales reached $32.2 billion. According to Carol Hively, spokesperson for the Deerfield, Ill.-based corporation, 450 new stores will open this fiscal year. "That's about one store every 19 hours," Hively says. She is astonished at the prospect of a neighborhood having input into whether a store should move in. "Typically whatever we propose, the city processes," she says. Hively has no comment as to whether a community should have the right to review a store, to ban a store from entering, or to determine the character and feel of its own neighborhood. Has Walgreens ever pulled out of a community due to local opposition? "I can't think of a time off the top of my head," Hively says. "If a neighborhood doesn't want a store, the procedure varies. Many factors are considered."

If the situation in Cole Valley is any gauge, these factors do not typically include the input of residents. "It feels like you're up against this anonymous corporate structure that wants to destroy your neighborhood," Landerghini says.

But the real test will be where residents choose to put their dollars. Is a boycott the solution? "When there is no notification beforehand, the only recourse is a boycott," Laitimer says. "That would be the economic disincentive for Walgreens to stay." So for those in Cole Valley who opposed Walgreens' furtive entry, it seems the answer may lie within their own community. "You make a value judgment with your dollar," Bagi says. Those dollars can continue fueling your own neighborhood or end up in the coffers of Deerfield, Ill.

Marisa Handler is a freelance writer who lives in San Francisco.