New CVS, Old CVS

The new CVS pharmacy on Lower Duval. Five blocks further down there are another two national pharmacy chains, CVS and Walgreens. Five blocks after that there is a CVS at Simonton and Truman. New Town has a couple, as well as Dennis Pharmacy in the Professional Building on 12th Street and then there is a new CVS on Stock Island. Five CVS, two Walgreens and one local independent. Should be enough drugs to go round.

Mind you the new CVS has refurbished and made nice a corner of Lower Duval that was pretty badly degraded after the former collection of stores moved out. Welcome to the gateway to famous Duval Street:

And the old CVS was bulging at the seams at 12 Duval Street. I took this picture a few years ago:

And this one this week: 

The old place was kind of odd built into a building with peculiar angles and corners and and every inch stuffed with...stuff.  I kept meaning to go in and take a few pictures before it closed, and life got in the way.

I snapped these poor substitutes from the street.

When 12 Duval was open it was quite the hub at the tourist end of the street:

And on one of the hottest days of the year so far the watersports booth was still doing business next to the shuttered store:

Sure it would be nice to see more local stores, but how likely is that transformation on this street that so much wants to be a tourist attraction but more and more becomes anywhere under the sun? CVS is dead, long live CVS. Oh well.