The Eye: Fort Collins, WY? The implications are cartographic

Anyone who has lived for even a modest length of time in Northern Colorado has likely learned to cope with the unknowing masses in other parts of the country.

Surely, you’ve heard it.

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“Berthoud? I’d hate to negotiate that pass every day.” or “Loveland? It must be great to have a ski hill so close!” or “Windsor? I have a cousin in Windsor, Conn.” or “Greeley? That’s a suburb of Denver right?” or “Fort Collins? What branch of the military?”

Now comes a new one.

In a recent press release, drugstore chain Walgreens — incidentally, it’s headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Deerfield, Ill. — announced a list of 1,214 stores that would be open 24 hours during the holiday season.

One of the markets identified on the list was “Fort Collins WY.”

Now, Fort Collins has been called many things over the years, but never has it been called part of Wyoming.

First, no self-respecting Wyoming resident would have it.

Second, many Fort Collins residents would tell you they’d live in the Northwest Territories — that’s part of Canada — before they’d spend two days in Wyoming. (Although the city is considering some major open-space purchases along the border.)

But the Eye is most concerned about the business implications of this misunderstanding.

Does that mean Walgreens has been acting on incorrect demographic data all these years?

Once it figures out where Fort Collins is located, does it mean more Walgreens stores are bound for Fort Fun?

Should geography become a required course for business-school undergrads?

There are political ramifications as well.

If the Colorado General Assembly takes the bait, will Fort Collins be cut out of the budget next year? (Some may argue it wouldn’t be the first time. Others may argue that Wyoming has more money, so it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.)

Anyway, does the mayor know this?