November 3, 2002
Mr. David Bernauer
CEO & President
Walgreen Stores
200 Walnut Rd
Deerfield, IL 60015
Dear Mr. Bernauer:
September l2, l992, our Yolanda Ytreiguts and Senator Lisa Madigan met with men from your architect development department.
This meeting pertained to the problems persons with disabilities are having with the Walgreen stores in the Chicago and Suburban areas. This is also happening in other states because your design is the same. We brought pictures and a letter telling them two stores in particular has broken the ADA Accessibility Law. These stores were built after 1993 and were okayed by your architect and development department and the Village of Hanover Park and the Village of Itasca. We are going to file a complaint with each of these villages.
The conclusion to the meeting Walgreen's is going to work it out that all persons with disabilities are going to have the freedom to shop in your stores.
They have agreed with Senator Madigan and Yolanda Ytreiguts that all the handicap-parking spaces are going to be near the doors. These spaces will not have obstructions in front or on the sides of them. There are flower planters on the sides of the handicap-parking spaces and trash containers in front of the handicap-parking spaces at the above mentioned stores and possibly other Walgreen stores. This is illegal and against the Federal Accessibility Law and causes persons with disabilities hardship in accessing your stores. Not everyone uses a wheel chair or automatic cart. Some of us use canes, four legged canes or walkers. We cannot have obstructions when we get out of the cars or vans. Every handicap-parking space is to be 16 ft across. Eight feet on the left for car or van and eight feet stripped on the right.
It was also agreed the slant on an open sidewalk ramp shall be as stated in the Illinois Accessibility Code. "Maximum slopes of adjoining gutters, road surface immediately adjacent to the curb ramp, or accessible route shall not exceed l:20" or 2% grade. On our web site in link for the Access Board will show how to make corrections on old properties and suggestions to fit your new properties. A lot of the Walgreen sidewalk ramps are more than 2% grade and a disabled person with a cane, four legged cane or walker can't walk up or down because the slant is so steep. Wheel chairs and automatic carts have a problem if these openings are not as stated in the Illinois Accessibility Code. The minimum width of a curb ramp shall be 36in." and the grade is no more than 2%.
Please see our web site for directions supplied by the Access Board on how to make these corrections. Our web site is www.bonewits.net/UVDA-0.htm
The 0 is #0.
It was agreed that Walgreen's is going to put an automatic shopping cart for persons with disabilities in each of your stores. You have no idea what it will mean to us, no matter what age, to know when we come into Walgreen's we will be able to shop. There are 54 million persons with disabilities Mr. Bernauer; you have no idea how it feels to know we don't have the freedom to go anywhere we want to shop.
We just don't want to go to Jewel-Osco, Dominick's and K-Mart. We want to be able to shop at every retail store. Once we know Walgreen's is going to make this happen and changes it's advertising to let us know, all your sales will be up. Retail stores can't imagine how much money they are losing in sales by not making it easy for people with disabilities to shop.
We were asked to give Walgreen's one month to check everything out and one year to get all your older properties corrected. We will agree to this. Please consider no raised sidewalkes in your future stores. This will solve the access problem all together.
We have one more request that needs addressing for winter. Please write a letter to all your managers telling them to make sure the plow companies they hire for snow removal do not put the plowed snow into the handicap-
parking spaces. All the open sidewalks, sidewalks and pavement around the handicap-parking spaces are thoroughly salted. This is a very big problem an I personally have mentioned this to your store managers but nothing was ever done about it.
Mr. Bernauer, persons with disabilities did not ask to become disabled.
We woke up one morning and our lives were not the same. Disabilities are like death. They take no holiday. Disabilities could happen to anyone young or old. This is why when a big cooperation like Walgreen's is willing to help us we can't say thank you enough for giving us are dignity, hope and freedom. Thank you again.
Cordially,
Rosemarie A. Botthof
United Voice of Disabled Americans
460 Eagle Dr. Apt 106
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
CC: Senator Lisa Madigan
Yolanda Ytreiguts-MS Advocate
Linda Stern-MS Advocate
Mike Irvin-Equipped for Equality