Above: the opening ceremony
By the Caribbean Journal staff
It’s been around for 112 years, but American drug retailing giant Walgreens had never opened a store in the US Virgin Islands — until now.
The company opened its first store outside of the US, Puerto Rico on Guam this weekend, cutting the ribbon on an 18,000-square-foot store in St Thomas.
“It is always a pleasure for me to be part of something new that, more than anything, helps the Virgin Islands,” said USVI Governor John de Jongh.
The Governor said it was good to see, in the current economic climate, “a company that will come in, invest in the local community and employ Virgin Islanders.”
Walgreens is the largest drug retailer in the United States of America, with more than 8,300 locations. It expanded to Puerto Rico in 2008 through the purchase of a number of existing pharmacies.