New CVS store leads to Cedar Rapids Bonanza closing; Happy Joe's seeking new site

The Bonanza Family Restaurant at 3505 16th Ave. SW in Cedar Rapids has closed after 23 years of business after a national drugstore chain purchased the property.

Mike DeAngelis, a spokesman for CVS Caremark, confirmed that the national drugstore chain closed on the purchase of property at 16th Avenue and Edgewood Road SW last week. DeAngelis said the Woonsocket, R.I., chain plans to build a drugstore on the site next year, but “as we are very early in the development process, we don't have a lot of specifics to share at this time.”

The owner of the building that houses Happy's Joe's Pizza & Ice Cream Parlor at 3419 16th Ave. SW also has sold the property to CVS. Happy Joe's, which has a lease with CVS that will run through April 30, 2011, will continue to operate without any changes as it pursues a new location.

CVS is a major competitor of Chicago-based Walgreen Co., which operates a store across Edgewood Road SW at 3325 16th Ave. SW.

Walgreen Co.  is constructing a new store less than a mile away on the northwest corner of Edgewood Road and Johnson Avenue SW. The store will be less than a mile from a location at at 4825 Johnson Ave. NW operated by regional competitor Hy-Vee Drug Store.

Walgreen Co. is preparing to open a new store on C Avenue NE just north of Blairs Ferry Road that will be less than a mile from a Hy-Vee Drug Store at 505 Boyson Road NE.