Walgreens to replace Hughes Market

Karen S. Kim

SOUTH SAN FERNANDO DISTRICT -- Two years ago, Hughes Market on the

corner of Alameda Avenue and San Fernando Boulevard was shuttered after

Ralphs Co. acquired Hughes Market Inc.

Now the abandoned eyesore has been demolished to make way for a

Walgreens Pharmacy.

“It was somewhat of an older building, and once Hughes went out of

business, basically it was just a shell,” said Burbank Redevelopment

Project Manager Ruth Davidson Guerra. “You could say it was an eyesore.”

Walgreens is expected to open in the fall.

Officials for Beverly Hills-based Crown Realty and Development, which

owns the Hughes Market property, said they were excited to finally get

some use out of it.

“The property ... has not been contributing to the community or the

neighborhood,” Crown Vice President Jim O’Neil said. “We’re glad to

revitalize that corner.”

Walgreens drugstores first opened in 1901. The company plans to open

6,000 stores by 2010, according to its Web site.

Burbank’s Walgreens will offer a drive-through pharmacy. O’Neil said

landscaping would be included in the project.

The 15,000-square-foot lot also hosts another building, owned by

Suzanne Fredericks, that will not be torn down. O’Neil said his company

was unsuccessful in its attempt to acquire that property.

Although city officials aren’t too excited about having another

drugstore in Burbank, they seemed happy the Hughes property would be used

for something.

“Any time a piece of property that is an obsolete property is turned

around and made into a useful piece of property, that’s good,” Guerra

said.