A 1.25 acre site on South Main Street, once home to P&C Food Market, will reopen its doors as a CVS Pharmacy within a month, Hanover officials say.
The transformation comes almost a year since the building was shuttered in February 2003. Now, construction is nearing a finish, and workers at the site confirmed the opening of CVS within the next month.
The pharmacy's opening will end a lengthy back-and-forth between CVS' corporate representatives and the Hanover Zoning Board over how the old P&C site would be redeveloped and improved.
Providence, R.I.-based CVS had originally proposed rebuilding the parking lot, changing the facade of the building and constructing a drive-up option for the convenience of its customers, said Jonathan Edwards, Hanover planning and zoning director. The proposed changes had to be reviewed by a public board as part of a regular procedure.
In an effort to avoid delays, CVS eventually decided not to pursue the drive-up option and focus on an interior renovation of the building instead. Now, CVS is expected to file a revised parking lot and drive-up proposal, with the hope of avoiding complications this time, Edwards said.
The long-standing presence of locally-owned Eastman's Pharmacy did not factor into CVS' arrival, Edwards added, noting that pressure from Eastman's to avoid competition from the giant chain "did not come into play at all."
Eastman's employees refused to comment on the possibility that CVS might take away some of the pharmacy's clientele, although several students and Hanover residents hinted they may switch to CVS because of its cheaper prices.
"Eastman's Pharmacy is expensive," Julia Brant '04 said.
Other Hanover citizens said they were unaware of CVS' projected arrival.
"I had no idea," said Tobin Whitman, a local resident.
Edwards said CVS has not launched an advertisement campaign for the new Hanover outlet, but will probably do so soon.
The P&C Food Market had previously occupied the building for three years. The store was the smallest in a chain of over 200 supermarkets nationally, owned by parent company Penn Traffic, which is based in Syracuse, N.Y.
Unable to renew its lease with site owner Bayson Properties, the Hanover branch closed its doors Feb. 1, 2003, leaving the Hanover Co-op Food Store, located on the other side of the Dartmouth campus, as the only supermarket in town.
Falling food prices in the supermarket industry coupled with Penn Traffic's increasing expenditures engendered the closing of P&C, reported The Dartmouth in an article covering the event last year.
The departure of P&C provided an opportunity for other interested parties to move into Hanover, and multiple companies expressed interest in the property, according to Edwards.
He further added that while the Hanover planning and zoning board can regulate business activity in town, its authority is limited to the type of activity and it cannot determine ownership of a building or lot.
