There is construction all over North Windham, marked off by road cones and bright-orange plastic fencing. Hammers are being swung inside the Windham Mall, at the intersection of Boody’s Corner, and on Route 115. And most of it is scheduled to finish within the next few months.

The most easily spotted site is the intersection of routes 302, 35, and 115, more commonly known as Boody’s Corner. Across the street from Dunkin’ Donuts, construction is well underway for a future Walgreens, which is set to open Jan. 1, 2007.

On Route 115, about 100 yards from Walgreens, ground has been cleared for the North Windham Veterinary Clinic, which is relocating to the site March 10, 2007.

On Route 302 in the Windham Mall, workers are constructing a future Marshalls. Taking out the existing CardSmart business, Marshalls plans to open its doors the first of March.

Walgreens

The Walgreens in Windham will be the first one in the state of Maine. Carol Hively, a spokeswoman for Walgreens, hopes the community will enjoy the addition of the company to the town.

The store will be complete with a drive-thru pharmacy and photofinishing service. Customers will be able to drop off film or send digital images electronically, and pick up developed hard copies within an hour’s time. The store will also offer instant passports and digital prints. Prescriptions refills will also be available from any of the 5,461 stores already open.

Walgreens is now the largest drugstore chain in the nation, raking in $47.4 billion in sales for the 2006 fiscal year. It is the eighth largest retailer. The typical store employes 25 to 30 people, and averages $7.9 million in sales annually. The company started in 1901 by Charles Walgreen in Chicago, Ill.

Marshalls

The Windham Mall is busy filling its empty retail slots.

The Windham Mall has finished much of the heavy construction where the CardSmart used to be, but it has much more finishing work to do within the expanded business slot.

A Marshalls retail store is moving in upon completion. The store will be another in the 700-plus chain, offering off-price, brand-name merchandise to the public. Off-pricing is offering the same merchandise as that in other stores, but for less cost.

“We don’t sell cheap steak, we sell steak cheap,” Marshall’s Web site proclaims. The company focuses on competitive buying in order to obtain and then sell its merchandise at a reduced retail cost. The store has expanded its floorspace outward, and into the Windham Mall, shrinking the lobby area while expanding shopping opportunities for the surrounding communities. The average store employs a combination of 75 full-time and part-time positions.

Vet clinic

A lifelong dream is reaching reality along Route 115, near Boody’s Corner, as Key Bank finances construction of a new North Windham Veterinary Clinic.

“This has been a 20-year process, a culmination of events to get it here,” said Dr. Jeffery Carr, owner of the clinic.

The business has been open for 35 years, gaining a steady client base from the surrounding communities. Carr is accompanied in the practice with Dr. Linda Hornig.

“It’s just about busting at the seams,” Carr said of the old building, located.

The new site will be about four times the size, with nearly 6,000 square feet of room. The business will continue with its current employment of three veterinary doctors and 10 help staff. Carr is looking forward to the move in early March, and to open the doors to the 40 to 50 animals and their owners he sees each day.

Marshalls, just one of several big construction projects in Windham, plans to open its doors in early spring.