WALGREENS

RadioShack on Thursday evening tapped Joe Magnacca, who played a key role in making Walgreens' front-end transformation pop, to be the small-box electronics retailer's chief executive. On Friday morning, RadioShack's shares jumped as Wall Street absorbed the news. 

Everybody loves a turnaround story. RadioShack is betting that the now-former president of daily living products and solutions for Walgreens, Joe Magnacca, will help author a turnaround story of its own for the small-box consumer electronics retailer.

NEW YORK — Verizon Communications on Thursday elected Greg Wasson, Walgreens president and CEO, to the Verizon board of directors, effective March 1.

"Greg Wasson brings to Verizon an in-depth knowledge of the retail and healthcare industries," stated Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO. "He offers a unique perspective as the leader of a successful Fortune 50 company focused on innovation, traditional and nontraditional growth, operational and technical excellence, and multichannel integration. We welcome him as a valuable addition to our board."

ST. LOUIS — Walgreens last week awarded six area teens cash prizes of up to $2,000 for their participation in the Walgreens Expressions Challenge, according to a story published in The St. Louis American Tuesday. 

The winners were selected out of more than 1,000 entries. 

NEW YORK — Duane Reade on Tuesday announced the Niantic Labs new mobile game Ingress would be integrated across the chain's more than 250 locations in an effort to increase 'share of voice' and customer engagement. Duane Reade, part of the Walgreens family of companies, is one of the first retail partners in the New York Metropolitan area for "Ingress", which blends the physical and virtual world to create a one-of-a-kind gaming experience, Duane Reade stated. 

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens Tuesday morning reported January sales of $6.2 billion, an increase of 6.3% as compared to the same month in fiscal 2012.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Tuesday announced it is supporting American Heart Month by providing free blood-pressure testing during February at all Walgreens pharmacies and Take Care Clinics nationwide. The initiative supports Walgreens Way to Well Commitment, which began in 2011 as a four-year, $100 million initiative to improve the everyday health of Americans nationwide through the prevention and early detection of today’s leading diseases.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — To put Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson's speech at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores' Regional Chain Conference on Monday into perspective, one may consider that pharmacists today are the leading providers of immunizations and vaccinations, whereas five years ago, they weren't involved at all.

Wasson, NACDS' current chairman, focused on the themes of innovation and engagement, citing immunizations and vaccinations as examples that "people are ready for community pharmacy to take on a greater role."