What Is Needed In The Former Downtown Concord CVS Space?

CONCORD, NH — The Downtown Concord CVS location has been closed for more than four months now after the company decided to consolidate its locations and operations.

The company has other pharmacies in the city — including larger stores on Hall Street and Loudon Road. The change was made, too, the company said, in December 2021, to adapt to changing consumer habits and health care needs.

The empty storefront is one of the prime spots on North Main Street and is owned by a trust controlled by Mark Ciborowski, whose family owns several buildings in the city.

While the city and its taxpayers have spent a lot of time and millions of dollars reviving the downtown, a lot remains to be desired. There are a lot of banks — not that there is anything wrong with banks; New Hampshire has some great ones that focus on local clientele. There are some restaurants, but there is also limited foodie fare and not a lot of variety compared to other cities that are the same size if not smaller (see Portsmouth or Burlington, Vermont, as examples). Parts of the downtown are open after 5 p.m., but many parts are not.

For many years, Ciborowski has discussed renovating the Phenix Hall next door and constructing a glass structure to connect the hall to a new building, possibly around five stories, on the CVS lot. Plans for a boutique hotel and intimate music hall were bandied about for years before the Bank of New Hampshire Stage or The Hotel Concord opened. Ciborowski has promoted the concept repeatedly on tours of the historic hall where rallies and presidential speeches have been held in the past.

Instead of waiting for a big tenant, maybe the space could be split up into a variety of tenants with small businesses (think Puppy Love or CandleTree Soy, both right next door).

What do you think? Leave a note in the comment section below so we can rev up this part of downtown with some new, fresh ideas.

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