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Alchemist Generat 720 Snelling Avenue North St. Paul, MN 55104 Phone: 651-645-8636 9Fax 651-647-9730 Lloyds Pharmacy e Bober Pharmacy and Gift * Arden Pharmacy and Gift Hunt Silver Lake Drug and Gift * Hunt Hillcrest Drug and Gift ® Proderm January 21, 2009 Mayor Stan Harpstead City Council Members City of Arden Hilts 1245 West Highway 96 Arden Hills, MN 55112 Re: Arden Pharmacy and Clift .4. Dear Mayor Harpstead and City Council Members: I would like to encourage your support of the proposed new Walgreens pharmacy at Arden Plaza. Arden Pharmacy has been located at Arden Plaza for the past 29 years. We are proud to have served the community in providing great service and high quality products. During the past few years, however, the vitality of Arden Plaza has diminished. A number of long term tenants either decided to relocate or to go out of business. In addition, the retail competition created by Cub and Target --anchored retail developments just to our north has meant less traffic and more challenges for the retail businesses at Arden Plaza. Beyond these factors is the reality that many area employers have directed their employees to use prescription mail order services, reducing our core business. We are encouraged that the owners of Arden Plaza are working to improve the retail center and to inject new life into this important corner of Arden Hills. While we would like to be part of these new plans, we recognize that a national retailer like Walgreens provides a more significant anchor store to the project than Arden Pharmacy. The plan to demolish the outdated office buildings on the corner and replace them with a new and larger pharmacy plus other small retailers will be a huge step forward for the entire project. We have worked collaboratively with the owners of Arden Plaza to make this transition to a new pharmacy as smooth as possible. It is likely that we will sell our business to Walgreens. This will enable current customers at our store to continue to receive the high quality services they have always received at Arden Pharmacy. This will also enable Arden Pharmacy to stay open until the new Walgreens has completed construction. This will ensure no gap in service to our customers, which is a big priority for myself and the staff of Arden Pharmacy. As a resident of Arden Hills and as a member of the community task force that studied the entire County Road E area last year, I am pleased that the new plan that has been developed will significantly upgrade the whole area. The planned improvements for County Road E are long overdue, and I strongly encourage the Mayor and members of the Arden Hills City Council to implement this plan as soon as resources are available. I want to thank you and all the residents of Arden Hills for your support over the past 29 years. Arden Hills is a great community and we have been proud to have been a part of it. S' cerely Ron Johnson Owner, Arden harmacy