Maricopa’s first Walgreens store opened at the corner of John Wayne Parkway and Smith-Enke Road in early 2004. This InMaricopa file photo depicts the storefront with a “NOW OPEN” banner hanging and fresh coat of parking-lot paint.

The first location did so well that Walgreens built a second one at The Wells in 2007 — but the store spent 13 years in purgatory following the Great Recession.

“Due to the crash of the economy and an insufficient population base, we don’t feel Maricopa can currently support two Walgreens,” corporate spokesman Robert Elfinger told InMaricopa in 2010. “Let’s just say the economy needs to return.”

The second pharmacy would eventually open in 2020, just in time for another generational economic contraction.