WALGREENS


NEW YORK — The race is on to capture tomorrow’s click-and-pick shopper — that multichannel consumer who, with a click, wields her phone as an omniscient shopping tool and then either picks her product off the shelf or picks where that product will be waiting for her, be it at a nearby store or in her mailbox. 


NEW YORK — Duane Reade unveiled on Tuesday its new flagship store at the iconic 40 Wall St. — an impressive co-branded location that undoubtedly represents a milestone as it brings together under one roof the best ideas of Duane Reade and Walgreens and leverages innovative technology throughout to enhance the shopping experience.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — Somehow, someway, Walgreens will be the first to figure out how to beam a prescription right into a patient's medicine cabinet "Star-Trek" style. Because as sure as the chain's e-commerce president Sona Chawla is to Walgreens as Scotty is to the USS Enterprise, Walgreens is moving at light speed in monetizing and capitalizing on multichannel retailing. And the chain hasn't even got its multichannel engines really revved yet.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Wednesday unveiled plans to establish deeper roots on its home turf with its “Chicago Hometown Investment Initiative,” a plan that will create an estimated 600 new jobs in the city over the next two years and will quadruple the number of Walgreens’ food oasis stores.

YONKERS, N.Y. — Important safety information often is missing from drug labels, while some pharmacies don’t include medication guides required by the federal government, according to a new investigation by Consumer Reports.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — In June 1997, the cover of Wired magazine showed Apple’s logo with a crown of thorns and the foreboding word “Pray.” Amid the nascent tech boom, the company’s stock hit a low of about $12 per share that summer. The future, it seemed, was IBM-compatible.

(THE NEWS: Rite Aid shows off innovation with Wellness store. For the full story, click here.)

BOSTON — There’s a tremendous upside for retailers and suppliers, but that upside will come from doing things differently than in years past, as well as grappling with fragmentation. Those were a few of the key messages Bryan Gildenberg, chief knowledge officer of Kantar Retail, had for attendees of Monday morning’s business session at NACDS Marketplace in Boston.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens is making online shopping more convenient for its customers with its new Web pickup service.