Aug. 19--Walgreens will open a store in the former Sears location on State Street in the Loop, the Deerfield-based company confirmed Wednesday.
The store, set to open next spring, will occupy 15,000 square feet of space at 2 N. State. Sears closed its store there in April 2014.
This is Walgreen's second time operating from this location. The company operated a store in the same building from 1949 to 1999, according to spokesman Philip Caruso.
The new location will not be a flagship like the one about two blocks away at State and Randolph, Caruso said.
"It's a high-profile location, but the space will be closer to a typical neighborhood Walgreens," he told the Tribune. "It's not unusual for us to have locations in close proximity in high-traffic urban areas."
The Randolph and State flagship, like another store in the Wrigley Building on North Michigan Avenue, has two levels, a sushi bar, a juice bar and an expanded cosmetics section.
After 13 years and weak sales, Sears closed its Loop store in April 2014. With Walgreens moving in, about 7,000 square feet of space remains available there. Chicago Public Schools moved its headquarters into much of the building in December 2014.
Crain's Chicago Business first reported the lease.
crshropshire@tribpub.com
