Nearby: Porter Square Gets Super Walgreens … Right Next to CVS

Yes, this is technically in Cambridge, but tons of Porter Square residents and shoppers live in Somerville, and soon they'll have a brand new drug store in which to buy hemorrhoid cream, sample deodorants and pick up a little sushi.

A Super Walgreens, according to Cambridge Day, is moving into the space occupied most recently by Pier 1 Imports. (The move has been in the works since at least February.)

"But wait a minute," many of you are no doubt saying, "isn't that right next to a CVS?" 

And by "right next to" you mean, "practically on top of."

Well, yes. The Super Walgreens will be just across the street—a small street—from the existing CVS. And that's kind of Cambridge Day's point when it argued the Walgreens move is "hard to take as a victory for anyone but KS Partners, the owners of 1 Porter Square," where Walgreens will be located.

Super Walgreens are more than just drug stores. Some of them also have juice bars, mini-spas, sandwiches and, yes, sushi. Downtown Crossing is also getting one.

From Cambridge Day's perspective, that means the Walgreens will also duplicate, to a degree, the Shaws super market, across the parking lot, and nearby lunch spots.

"This sounds a lot like a miniature version of the retail pall that landed on Harvard Square over the past decade, except there it was banks rushing in to fill storefronts," Cambridge Day says.

Fair enough. Lots of people may be sad to see Pier 1 leave and befuddled by the idea of choosing between an existing CVS and a new Walgreens.

On the other hand, you're telling me I can get my hair did, my prescriptions filled and some sushi all in one place? For some, the idea of a Super Walgreens may sound kind of cool. 

Cambridge Day reported that the Walgreens might open at the end of the year.

When it does, will you shop there?