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Walgreen Drugs is the dominant drug store chain in America, with 6,148 stores and growing!
Walgreen’s was occupying an end cap in a shopping center in Kentwood, a suburb of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The store was approximately 7,000 square feet, about one-half the size of their new stores,
and not sufficient to cater to the large general population in Kentwood and an adjoining retirement community of 600 residents.
The challenge was to find a site nearby that would accommodate a 15,000 square foot store with a strong, heavily traveled corner location.
Dick Jasinski was contacted regarding assistance in locating a site and negotiating a deal with the owners of the land. A nearby 4 acre site was chosen and the acquisition process began. Only 1.5 acres of the site was necessary for the Walgreen store. Approximately 2 acres of the site were deemed wetlands, and the sellers were not interested in being left with the unusable acreage. Mitigation to another site did not prove feasible, therefore Dick worked with the City of Kentwood to develop a plan to create a 2 acre wild nature setting, which would place a natural park-like area in the heart of Kentwood’s central business district. Negotiations with the Planning Commission were lengthy due to the intricacy of the site and the need to satisfy all government demands. Roughly 1½ years later the goal was achieved.
Walgreen’s, today, has a store that substantially increased their business in the area, and Kentwood is pleased to have a permanent natural setting in the heart of their city.
“Dick Jasinski was persistent in overcoming many obstacles to acquire this land for Walgreen’s. He was able to satisfy the need of Walgreen’s as well as the property owners, who wanted to dispose of the entire 4 acre parcel. I would have no qualms about working on other projects with them in the future.â€
— Mike Bailey