It's Official: Walgreens To Call Anderson Home

ANDERSON, S.C. -- Some call it a perfect prescription to aid a struggling economy.

On Tuesday night, Walgreens made the announcement official: It will build a distribution center in Anderson County.

Walgreens expects to hire 450 workers when the center opens in 2007. Some hope that it's just the beginning, as Walgreens says it plans to grow.

" Gov. Mark Sanford speaks at a Wednesday press conference about the coming Walgreens distribution center, thanking the company for its $175 million investment.

One of the hottest growth markets right now is in the Carolinas," said Jodi Dalton, Walgreens Sr. Real Estate Manager. "We needed a facility to service that store growth."

Anderson County needs jobs, especially with an unemployment rate around 6 percent.

"I think it's going to have a huge economic impact long term and on the short term as the construction process begins," said John Lummus, Economic Development Director of Anderson County.

The two believe they've found a prescription that works for both -- near I-85 and Highway 81.

"The industrial park has been perfectly positioned for a project like this to come in," Lummus said.

Walgreens plans to start building the 700,000 square foot distribution center this summer.

"The facility will be state of the art. It's our next-generation distribution center in a very clean environment," said Dan Coughlin, a divisional VP for Walgreens. "The jobs (we need) are basically our picking operations, loading vehicles, loading trucks, receiving merchandise, making sure the right materials get to the stores."

"Every job spins off to a number of jobs in the service sector, so we could see more jobs coming from that," he added.

On Tuesday, County Council learned the high dollars involved - up to $175 million.

Meanwhile, residents hope the nation's largest drug store chain will begin to cure an ailing economy.