Inspired by Old Unionville, building finds a new tenant
Dollar Tree discount chain coming to Mill Street to fill Walgreens vacancy
FARMINGTON — Dollar Tree, a national discount chain with nearly 70 stores in 55 Connecticut towns, is opening a location in Unionville, a town official confirmed Tuesday.
Economic Development Director Rose Ponte said the retailer will open in the 15,000-square-foot building at 5 Mill St. that has been vacant since Walgreens, the original tenant, closed June 1, 2020.
Though there is no target date for when the new business will open, the Lauretano Sign Group has a sign application for Dollar Tree before the town’s Plan and Zoning Commission for a May 23 hearing.
The empty building has been subject to wide speculation among residents since Walgreens closed after eight years in business. Despite not having official confirmation, Dollar Tree’s interest in moving in had been openly discussed on social media sites for months.
Ponte said was pleased to finally have a tenant in the building, as having it vacant was not ideal given its size and location.
“It’s difficult to have an empty building in our downtown Unionville center,” Ponte said. “It’s an important building; it’s a very visible building. A lot of people worked really hard on making that building look and feel the way Unionville wanted it. It created a sense of place in my opinion.”
The two-story building with multiple colors and finishes was designed to look like the 19th-century storefronts of Old Unionville that were lost, either to the 1955 flood or when the village was redeveloped in the 1960s. It was carefully designed and constructed by Walgreens a decade ago, with input from residents, the Unionville
Village Improvement Association and the Unionville Museum, which provided the architects, BL Companies, with historic photographs to serve as inspiration.
At the time, Walgreens also offered a nod to Ryan’s Pharmacy, the family-owned store across the street, that planned to close when Walgreens opened by hiring its staff.
“Of course we were disappointed when Walgreens left. At the end of the day, I always consider the market being like a living thing. So when something
“We can’t always control who opens and who closes. But it’s never good to have an empty building.
closes there’s a new opportunity to come in and open something new.”
Ponte said she had approached other types of businesses — including breweries — to gauge interest, but, ultimately, could not find a suitable match, as the pandemic created uncertainty in numerous industries.
“We can’t always control who opens and who closes,” Ponte said. “But it’s never good to have an empty building. That particular building was a challenge — timing because it was closed at the very start of COVID. … It was a large space to find an end-user for.”
In addition, though Walgreens does not own the building, it has a long-term lease on it, adding another component to the issue.
“It was Walgreens’ lease to re-lease or sublease,” Ponte said. “They did their due diligence and they found someone they wanted to partner with.”
Rumors of Dollar Tree’s opening set off a firestorm of comments on social media, with some commenters bemoaning a chain discount retailer setting up shop in Unionville, while others noted that it fills a need and will employ local residents.
Ponte, for her part, said Dollar Tree would be a welcome addition to town.
“It is a viable company that is going to be successful and it will fit a need,” she said. “I think it checks off a whole lot of boxes. We
— Economic Development Director Rose Ponte
no longer have an empty building. We have a tenant that has been vetted and has been quite successful throughout the country. There is a need for something like that. Of course, everybody has their opinions on what should be there, what shouldn’t be there. … There were a lot of different variables that made this particular spot a little bit challenging of what it was going to be.”
Dollar Tree, according to its website, offers a litany of items including food, stationery, housewares, cleaning supplies, health and beauty products and holiday gifts, at low prices below $2.
The company has come under scrutiny in recent months amid reports of unsafe working conditions and wage violations, despite recording high profits.
In April, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-wash.), chairwoman of the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, wrote to the chief executives of Dollar Tree and Dollar General, another discount retail chain, “to protect workers and demand answers about the companies’ unacceptable treatment of their employees.”