Doors on Vicksburg’s 11th pharmacy should be open by Jan. 4, in keeping with plans first announced a year ago this month.

A sign in front of the store completed this past summer on 1.5 acres overlooking Post Plaza was turned on over the weekend and displayed the expected opening date.

Property on which the pharmacy will operate was the subject of a total makeover to support the building. A retaining wall was built to support hundreds of cubic feet of dirt put in place to construct the store’s parking lot. The site was home to a gas service station for years, most recently a Chevron Interstate Food Stop that closed in 2008. A liquor store operated briefly thereafter. The old store was razed to make way for CVS.

Pharmacies operating in Vicksburg include A Plus Healthcare Pharmacy, Battlefield Express Drugs, Battlefield Discount Drugs, Durst Discount Drugs, Fred’s, Helping Hand Family Pharmacy, Rite Aid, Vicksburg Special Care Pharmacy, Walgreens and Walmart. Another outlet, United Medical Infusion, closed its Vicksburg location earlier this year.

Rhode Island-based CVS Pharmacy is the second-largest
drugstore chain in the United States, having been overtaken for the top spot by Walgreen Co. last February. Walgreens has more than 8,200 stores nationwide.

The same month, CVS announced it would stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products in its more than 7,600 stores nationwide. It coincided with the chain re-branding itself to CVS Health.