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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 2:19 p.m., Friday, January 9, 2009

Walgreens to open Kalihi store on Saturday

Walgreens tomorrow plans to open its fourth Hawai'i store, at the former site of Kamehameha Bowl at 520 N. School St. in Kalihi.

The 14,600-square-foot store will be the third on O'ahu and second on O'ahu with a drive-through pharmacy.

The store is slated to open Saturday morning, though an exact time was not available today because work on the store is still being finished. After Sunday, the store will be open 24 hours a day.

To acknowledge the history of the Kalihi store site, Walgreens said the store will display a plaque, that includes a bowling pin, commemorating Kam Bowl after it is presented to the Oahu Bowling Association on behalf of the Kalihi community at a grand-opening ceremony Sunday that begins at 8 a.m.

Kam Bowl, a popular 24-lane complex near Kamehameha Shopping Center also known as Mak Bowl, closed in June 2007 after about five decades in operation.

Walgreens opened its first Hawai'i store in November 2007 at the former Tower Records site on Ke'eaumoku Street near Ala Moana Center.

"The response from customers in our first year of operation in the Islands has been fantastic," Dana Psomas, Walgreens Hawai'i district manager, said in a statement. "We'll keep moving forward with more store openings throughout the state."

Last month, Walgreens opened its first store with a drive-through pharmacy in Kane'ohe at a former Star Market site, and also opened a pharmacy-only store with a drive-through in Lahaina, Maui.

Walgreens envisions opening 25 to 30 stores in the state over the next several years, including three more pharmacy-only stores on Maui this month and a full-service store in Kailua during the first quarter.

The company said each of its stores employ about 40 people, including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, photo specialists, beauty advisers and service clerks.