By Clyde Noel

Town Crier Correspondent

Downtown Los Altos is one of the next sites Walgreen’s plans to open a store as part of the chain’s massive expansion that includes opening 6,000 more sites by 2010.

Tom Souza, director of Sansome Pacific Properties in San Francisco, is the lead agent representing Walgreen’s introduction to new markets. Last Monday he presented Walgreen’s plans for the former McWhorter’s site to the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Committee.

Walgreen’s purchased the leasehold for five McWhorter’s locations, including the one in Los Altos, earlier this year. The Los Altos location has a long-term lease of more than 25 years.

“We have looked at this Los Altos location for a long time. The McWhorter’s building is zoned for our allowable use, but we will make some building changes,” Souza said. “We want an entry from the Second Street side so people can walk up from the street, and that works better for our store layout.” Walgreen’s strategy is focused on customer convenience: how fast people get into the store, how fast they get out and how easily they find what they came to buy.

Souza said the Los Altos store won’t include a drive-through window or alcohol sales, and won’t be open 24 hours. Side windows will start above a seven-foot wall.

The store will concentrate on personal care items, office supplies, photography and prescriptions.

Regarding the current building’s tenants, Souza said the florist has a seven-year lease, but the restaurant and the computer store are on a month-to-month lease and he presumes they will be asked to move.

“There is no typical Walgreen’s operation,” Souza said. “The average store does $5 to $7 million gross sales a year, and 30-35 percent will be pharmacy business. Each store is different because of the community they operate in. The Los Altos location is unique, so you have to give us feedback.”

“We want a store that meets our higher standards and not a copy of other locations,” said Los Altos resident Jane Reed.

Critics of drugstore expansion say it is important to understand the huge growth of Walgreen’s.