CHICAGO—The migration of suburban firms into the CBD continues. Walgreens and Mayor Rahm Emanuel said yesterday that the convenience store giant will establish a new technology center at its existing downtown Chicago office and bring in another 300 workers. The group will be a mix of new hires and relocations from its suburban Deerfield location, company officials say. The expansion will double the number of employees working at Sullivan Center, located at 36 S. Wabash Ave.

In recent years, several suburban giants, including McDonald's and ConAgra, decided to pick up stakes and move their headquarters into the CBD. But so far, Walgreens appears to be following another popular strategy, in which a suburban company establishes a downtown satellite office that handles many tech chores. That way, it can attract the young, tech-savvy employees needed to run the operation, a group that largely prefers an urban lifestyle, all without disrupting the lives of the bulk of its workforce.

Walgreens has already begun building out its new space, which will soon host its retail pharmacy technology team, and the digital, mobile and e-commerce tech teams that currently work there.