Walgreen Plans Return to Times Square

New York City Walgreen Co. this summer will open a two-level, 27,000-sq.-ft. store in the middle of Manhattan's Times Square. The store will be marked with a 17,000-sq.-ft. digital banner that will ascend from ground level up and around three sides of the 25-story building, according to a report on ChicagoTribune.com.

The store will be located in One Times Square, the same spot where Walgreens operated a store during the Depression. It's also the same building from which the famous ball descends every New Year's Eve.

“So next New Year's Eve, we're all going to be able to watch the ball drop from the top of our building, in front of a very powerful drugstore and some incredible signage,” Walgreens chairman and CEO Jeffrey Rein told shareholders at the annual meeting Jan. 9, according to the report.

Walgreens operates only a handful of stores in the Big Apple. It shuttered its Times Square store in the 1970s when the district became known for strip clubs and high crime rates.