By next spring, Rancho Cordovans will have a pharmacy a little closer to home. The building of a CVS Pharmacy has been approved and will be the first free standing pharmacy in Rancho Cordova.  Groundbreaking will begin in October and builders hope to open the doors sometime in March of 2009.

This comes as a small victory for the residents of Rancho Cordova. We have been promised a Raleys and a Safeway on the corner of Sunrise and Douglas for years. In fact, the official sign that read a Safeway store was “coming soon” has been seemingly correctly changed to “not coming soon” with a little help from a can of spray paint and a frustrated shopper.  Builders are still waiting for more homes to be built so they can provide grocery shopping experiences for the optimum number of people ensuring the stores are as economically efficient as possible. Apparently the area has yet to reach that number, because there are no signs of building. Sharing the feeling with area residents, Bob McGarvey told the CVS builders, “We’re glad you have the vision to see what is going to be”. While they could have waited and held out for a greater shopping population, they saw what was needed now, and are taking action.

Though the CVS building has been approved, there are still a few loose ends to be taken care of. The color of the building will be changed from what was originally submitted to be more conducive with the look of the the other buildings in the area.  The store will also need to request the permit to sell alcohol in the coming months.

When complete, the pharmacy will boast over 13,000 square feet and a 24 hour drive through pharmacy window. The CVS chain is still relatively new to the Sacramento region though the chain did just buy out the 529 more locally known Longs Drugs stores for a whopping 2.9 billion, adding to their original 6,200 stores throughout the country.