City News to be replaced by retro drug store!

The neon-esque City News sign as it appeared in 2019 - Optopolis

If you remember Cheyenne's City News store, chances are you'll remember the popcorn or some other aspect of that store; it is finally getting replaced once again, this time by a retro drug store!

Some Background of the Boyd / Citizen's Bank Building

The Citizen's Bank Building was built in 1911, only three years after Boyd's Cigar Store was established in 1908 which opened in a nearby retail space.

For years, [the Citizen's Bank Building] was the tallest office building. Doctors, dentists, and lawyers kept the offices full upstairs. ~ Historic Downtown Walking Tour

According to Cheyenne's Historic Walking Tour booklet (PDF Download), this Citizen's Bank was one of many banks to go broke during the 1924 recession.

view of the Carey Avenue edge of the Boyd Building in 2019 - Optopolis

Best Hometown News (Link is dead; you can view the referenced article on the WaybackMachine) shares that the Citizen's Bank building was purchased by H.N. Boyd in 1925, renaming it to the Boyd building and moving the cigar store to the first level of the building in the process. Also according to the article, City News and Pipe Shop occupied the lower floor of the Boyd Building since 1969.

In 2019, things took a sharp turn for City News; in February, it was announced that the store would be closing, as mentioned on Wyoming News Now, apparently "due to the precipitous drop in the sales of print periodicals and books."

 

A view inside the window, looking over the counter of City News after closing in 2019 - Optopolis

Kentucky-based restaurant takes over

In late 2020, it was announced that a new bakery, The Gathering Bakery II based out of Radcliff, KY, would be taking over the City News space.


It opened on February 10th, 2021 with a refresh of the inside of the space, as seen in the first day post on the Cheyenne DDA Facebook Page.

Unfortunately, they quietly closed their Cheyenne store around May of 2021 as talked about on 101.9 KingFM, once again leaving the space vacant... that is until recently.

New Life coming in 2022 as Cheyenne City Drug and The Boardroom

By June 2022, it became known that a new tenant was coming, with Cheyenne City Drug - Pharmacy and Mercantile as well as The Boardroom labels posted in the windows and social media accounts for each name (see @citydrugcheyenne and @theboardroomcheyenne both on Instagram) sharing photos as progress has been made on the space.

Various perspectives of Cheyenne City Drug and The Boardroom -Optopolis

According to Mat Murdoch on 101.9 KingFM, they plan to have many of the classic features of retro drug stores... a soda fountain, ice cream... Oh, don't forget the Popcorn!

As of June 13th, they haven't opened yet (their social media reflecting this in their bios), but they are getting intensely close, with displays already set up in the City Drug windows!

What's the first thing you are gonna get from City Drug/The Boardroom? A yummy snack? A vaccine!? Let us know in the comments!

Location: Cheyenne, WY, USA

Comments

Post a Comment
Get new posts by email:

follow.it Follow/Subscription feed is powered by follow.it.

Popular posts from this blog

Sprouts Farmers Market is coming to Cheyenne! First Wyoming location!

Image
Truck sits in front of Bed Bath and Beyond while construction work takes place inside - Optopolis Cheyenne is getting a new competitor in the grocery store market! Sprouts Farmers Market is in the process of setting up shop in the former Bed Bath and Beyond. The space has already been gutted! A glance at the Bed Bath and Beyond space If you've been following the journey here at Optopolis, you probably already know this story, so here's a quick run-down of the history of Bed Bath and Beyond as it relates to Cheyenne. Building built 2007 according to property assessor, part of the then-Cheyenne Marketplace Bed Bath and Beyond would be the original tenant of its space In the first week of February 2023, BB&B was silently announced to close Final day was on Apr 23, 2023, the same day BB&B filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Spirit Halloween set up shop for the 2023 season, opening in August and closing shortly after Halloween Spirit Halloween inside of Cheyenne's Bed Bath ...
Read more

Dutch Bros Coffee is coming to Cheyenne (for real)

Image
Dutch Bros Coffee sign on the North Lincoln Avenue location in Loveland, Colorado - Optopolis That's right, Dutch Bros Coffee is trying again, and it looks significantly more promising this time around! A Dutch Bros location is slated to be built along East Pershing Boulevard just west of the Pershing Marketplace. Previous events with Dutch Bros and Cheyenne Back in late 2021, site plans visible in the Cheyenne City Planning and Development website indicated the old Dell Range Rolando's Mexican Grill would be demolished and that Dutch Bros was planning to build a restaurant there. View of former Rolando's on Dell Range - Optopolis About a year later in late 2022, there was a "Building Permit Reimbursement" item added to one of the permits, requesting closure of the account and reimbursement of the building permit at the site of the former Fernando's. Not long after, the former Fernando's was put back on the market, and a temporary sign advertising the lo...
Read more

Old Chicago closes Cheyenne restaurant!

Image
Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom sign illuminated after closing on the final day - Optopolis This was quite last minute, but it's true. Cheyenne's Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom permanently closed yesterday evening, at least an hour before their normal closing time of 10 PM on Sundays. A glance at the history of it According to Old Chicago's about page , Old Chicago dates back to its 1976 founding in Boulder, Colorado. They brag about their "tavern thin and classic thick crust pizzas" and their "110 local and legendary beers." Here at Optopolis, their pizza and broccoli-cheese soup (pictured below) were go-to items to eat in visits to the restaurant throughout the years. "I think this was the first place I ever tried the broccoli and cheddar soup," recalls Optopolis while recording a brief video clip. "I don't think I tried anywhere else before that, as far as I remember." The Laramie County Property assessor notes that Cheyenne...
Read more