Walgreens to seek out local, regional suppliers at upcoming Localization Summit

Walgreens is set to participate in an upcoming virtual event hosted by ECRM that will focus on localizing retailers’ assortments. The first-ever Localization Summit — slated for May 13 — will offer local and regional vendors the opportunity to connect with Walgreens’ merchandising team, share their products and receive feedback, with the ultimate goal of ending up in Walgreens stores in their areas. 

“As America’s community pharmacy, Walgreens is continuously looking for ways to highlight and connect with the communities we serve in a deeper and bolder way,” said Kirk Hanselman, interim chief merchandising officer at Walgreens. “This event allows us to create a more meaningful and localized shopping experience by sourcing products from our customers’ neighborhoods that they know and love. We look forward to meeting the diverse group of business leaders and a successful event.”

The Localization Summit will focus on grocery and household, apparel, beach, tourism and general merchandise, among other categories. More information can be found here. 

Walgreens’ participation in the summit follows its October virtual Supplier Summit. The company said its Localization Summit attendance is part of its efforts to find local businesses from all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., to build more locally relevant product offerings. 

All of the sourcing and submissions for the event will be made through RangeMe. ECRM will qualify suppliers, create curated meeting schedules and facilitate face-to-face virtual meetings with Walgreens buyers for suppliers via its ECRM Connect platform.