By Linda Taaffe

East Palo Alto wasn’t the only Peninsula city celebrating the grand opening of a much anticipated store last week. Los Altans got their first peek at the downtown Walgreens Aug. 26 - minus the traffic, crowds and media frenzy East Palo Alto’s newest big blue retail store attracted.

The 14,988-square-foot pharmacy is among downtown’s largest retail stores, adding 20,000 consumable items to the area’s shopping inventory.

The downtown store, located at 301 Second St., is about 500 square feet larger than the typical Walgreens.

It is the only downtown store to provide residents “one-stop” shopping with its one-hour photo lab, Hallmark center, grocery section with a refrigeration area and pharmacy.

The downtown store even includes a local souveniers sections with Los Altos T- shirts and baseball caps.

A steady stream of curious shoppers kept the store busy throughout opening day. Parents cruised the aisles, shopping with kids in tow; others got an early start for Halloween, combing through costumes and decorations in the holiday aisle. Some spent their lunch breaks in the store while others bought their lunches from the store.

Nationwide, Walgreens drugstores serve 3.4 million customers daily.