Walgreens opens 7,000th store in Brooklyn, N.Y.

DEERFIELD, Ill. Walgreens is celebrating the grand opening Thursday of its 7,000th store.

Brooklyn, N.Y. state and local officials will welcome the retailer to another New York neighborhood during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon Eastern time. The new store in the Gravesend neighborhood, near iconic Coney Island.

As part of the grand opening, the AARP/Walgreens Wellness Tour is offering free health screenings to all adult attendees and flu shot vouchers to uninsured adults in the store’s parking lot today. The appearance by the customized, traveling health-screening bus is part of a nationwide tour of nine vehicles to deliver free health screenings across the country for early detection and prevention of diseases, as well as health education. Screenings test for total cholesterol level, blood pressure, bone density, glucose levels and body mass index.

The Coney Island-themed grand opening will feature a ribbon cutting ceremony, food, music and entertainment. Guest speakers include Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz and other state and local officials. Walgreens also will donate $7,000 to Lenny’s Lighthouse, a Brooklyn charity that provides support to people with disabilities.

“For the last decade we have focused on finding the best corners in America to provide consumer goods and pharmacy and health and wellness services,” said Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson. “Today, more than 50% of the U.S. population lives within two miles of a Walgreens and close to 75% lives within five miles.”