Commission Approves 24-Hour CVS in Old Saybrook, Connecticut

OLD SAYBROOK - You can now grab your shopping cart and purchase a wide variety of over-the-prescription medication at 3 a.m. in Old Saybrook.

Before an almost empty Pasbeshauke Pavilion, the Zoning Commission voted in favor of allowing the CVS store, pharmacy, and prescription drive-thru window to be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.

It is the largest store in town to receive this approval since only a handful of gas stations and convenience stores are open around the clock.

CVS Pharmacy District Manager David Doiron said he expects the store, which is located at 519 Boston Post Road, will be open 24 hours starting March 30.

It will become the first 24-hour drug store in the lower Connecticut River Valley.

"The immediate plan is to not have the pharmacy hours extended but we would like the authority to do that if operational issues are solved," said Attorney David Royston, who represents Old Saybrook CVS.

According to the CVS Web site, pharmacy sales make up 70 percent of the company's business.

Roll down gates have already been installed to separate the pharmacy from the rest of the store when it closes for the evening.

The store will hire three full-time and one or two part-time employees to work during the extended hours, Doiron said.

Currently, the store is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week while the pharmacy is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Zoning Commission Chairman Robert Friedmann said the store shuts off their lights one hour after closing and its conversion to 24 hours would mean they would stay on all night.

Commission members agreed this would not pose a problem since CVS did an adequate job of having enough lighting for safety but not so much that it spills off the property.

This lighting will allow safe passage for pedestrians walking between CVS and the railroad station, Commission member Madeline Fish said.

Royston indicated the change would not alter the physical building and is not projected to increase traffic.

Traffic is expected to be more spread out since customers would not need to hurry to the store before closing, Doiron said.

While admitting business during the night shift at 24-hour CVS stores tends to be light, Doiron said, the chain is meeting the demands of customers who are requesting this convenience.

Royston said CVS frequently sees customers late at night purchasing over-the-counter medication along with baby and child care products.

If the pharmacy is open 24 hours, Doiron predicts that pharmacists will fill a maximum of four prescriptions each night.

The CVS Web site states that 24-hour pharmacies are especially helpful to "patients released from hospitals during the night in need of medication, and parents whose sick child needs a prescription."

Along the Interstate 95 corridor, the nearest CVS 24-hour stores with pharmacies are located in Groton and Ansonia, Doiron said.

The Middletown CVS became a 24-hour store and pharmacy last year and serves travelers along the nearby Route 9 and Interstate 91 corridors.

Typically 24-hour CVS stores have a 24-hour pharmacy component, Doiron said.

Dorion expects to come before the Zoning Commission in the near future requesting a sign stating "24 Hours", no larger than 8 ½" by 11", be installed on the building in a location not detracting from the building's colonial architecture.

The sign is expected to be similar in size and design as the one on the Glastonbury CVS, Dorion indicated, which is also open 24 hours.

This is the second major change of the Old Saybrook CVS since January 2007.

At that time, the store and pharmacy relocated from its 7,500-square-foot space on Main Street where it served customers since 1994 and moved into a new 13,000-square-foot colonial style building with a prescription drive-thru window and increased parking.

The proposal for a 24-hour operation comes only a few months before the anticipated opening of two new Walgreens in Deep River and Westbrook.

While both stores will feature a pharmacy and prescription drive-thru window components, none of those are planned to be open 24 hours.

Friedmann cautioned that the commission's approval could lead to more stores requesting permission to be open around-the-clock.

"The Zoning Commission does not have regulations limiting hours of operation," Friedmann said.

First Selectman Michael Pace said he is not opposed to businesses being open 24 hours provided they are not located near residential areas.

The closest non-convenience store to Old Saybrook which is open 24 hours is the Wal-Mart Super Center in Waterford, about 14 miles away.