A month after the Federal Trade Commission gave Walgreens the go-ahead to acquire half of Rite Aid’s 2,000 stores for $4.38 billion, the chain says it will be closing 600 stores — and most of those will be Rite Aid locations. [More]
drugstores
Walgreens Introduces In-Store Pickup For Online Orders
By 10.17.16 — Updated: 10.19.16
We’re not sure which shoppers have been sitting around dreaming of the day when they could place an online order and pick it up from their neighborhood drugstore, but Walgreens is making that scenario real by adding site-to-store to its e-commerce offering. Is this all a ploy to get you into a store? Yeah, pretty much. [More]
Walgreens Will Sell Off Up To 1,000 Stores To Get Approval For Rite Aid Acquisition
By 9.8.16
When two companies in the same business want to merge, a common condition placed on the merger by authorities may be that one or both companies sell part of its business so there’s still some competition in the market. It looks likely that the Federal Trade Commission will approve the proposed merger of Walgreens Rite Aid, but Walgreens may have to give up more locations before the deal goes through. [More]
Walgreens-Rite Aid Merger Still On Track, CEO Says Only 500 Stores Would Close
By 7.6.16
Walgreens and Rite Aid are the biggest and third-biggest pharmacy drugstore in this country, and they want to join forces to become a pharma-Voltron. The companies are waiting for regulatory approval, but the CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance told shareholders today that the deal will probably go through by the end of 2016, and that it will result in the closing of only about 500 stores. [More]
Walgreens, Duane Reade To Pay $500,000 For Overcharging, Misleading Customers
By 4.21.16
When you see a “sale” price on a store shelf, you expect to pay that price at the register. When you see something marked as a “Great Buy,” you might believe that it’s been discounted. And when a store advertises a “Last Chance” or “Clearance” sale, you probably have reason to think that those items won’t be in stock much longer. But Walgreens — and its subsidiary Duane Reade — have different ways of thinking about the above scenarios, and it’s gotten them into trouble with the state of New York. [More]
Rite Aid Will Deploy Thousands Of Beacons To Beam Deals At Shoppers
By 1.20.16
In-store beacons are low-power Bluetooth devices that let stores or brands push promotions out to customers smartphones. They only work when the shopper has opted in by installing an app. Do you really want your favorite shampoo brand beaming coupons at you every time you walk by a shelf? They haven’t really caught on, but Rite Aid is deploying them in 4,500 stores. [More]
Walgreens Pharmacists Manually Filling Prescriptions During Ongoing Computer System Outage
By 9.24.15
If you’re planning on heading over to Walgreens to refill a prescription, it might take a bit longer than usual: amid an ongoing outage of the drugstore chain’s pharmacy computer database that’s been going on since Tuesday morning, pharmacists have been forced to fill prescriptions by hand. Just like in ye olde days of yore. [More]
CVS Claims That Booting Tobacco From Stores Has Made Us All Healthier
By 9.3.15
Today marks the one-year anniversary of CVS removing tobacco products from its pharmacies. How’s that working out for them? The company reports that sales of non-drug items were down slightly in the last year, but tobacco isn’t a very profitable item. Parent company CVS Health is celebrating the anniversary with a study that it says shows that its decision decreased total cigarette sales nationwide. [More]
Yes, Here’s A Full Halloween Candy Display At Walgreens
By 7.21.15
Jill knew that her blog readers wouldn’t believe what she had seen, even if she presented them with a photo. At her local Walgreens store, there was a full display of Halloween treats, including candy corn and Snickers pumpkins. Halloween. On July 21. Please, retailers, we’re still uncomfortable at seeing Back-to-School displays in the big-box stores! Don’t do this to us! [More]
Lawsuit Against CVS Claims Label On Advanced Eye Health Supplement Is Misleading
By 1.14.15
Often when you see a drugstore-brand version of a brand-name product, it’s essentially the same thing just less expensive and with less-flashy packaging. But a new lawsuit alleges that CVS is not only trying to mislead shoppers by comparing its Advanced Eye Health supplement to products with different ingredients, but that the lack of those components make the CVS supplement less effective. [More]
Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Costco Agree To Finally Put Unit Pricing Online
By 6.17.14
When shopping online, it can be difficult to compare prices between similar products because they come in slightly different size containers — or to see if you’re really getting a good deal by buying in bulk — because many e-tail websites don’t include unit pricing to tell you many dollars per ounce/gram/liter or other standard unit of measure. But today, some of the biggest names in retail agreed to start listing unit prices, while the biggest name in online shopping won’t commit. [More]
Why Can’t You Get Medical Marijuana At CVS Or Walgreens?
By 5.13.14
Even though marijuana has been legalized by Colorado and Washington, and nearly two dozen states have laws protecting medical use of marijuana, you won’t be seeing it made available at your local pharmacy unless the federal government decides to legalize it. [More]
Lawmakers Urge Drug Store Chains To Stop Carrying Tobacco Products
By 4.29.14
It’s been nearly three months since CVS announced it was phasing out the sale of tobacco products in its stores, and so far no other major drug store chain has followed suit. So today, a dozen members of Congress, led by Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, called on these retailers to put an end to their part in the sale of cigarettes and other items containing tobacco. [More]
Does Walgreens’ New Up-Close-And-Personal Pharmacy Approach Violate Privacy Laws?
By 3.20.14
In an effort intended to provide pharmacy customers a less impersonal experience, some Walgreens stores have been redesigned to get pharmacists out in the store, consulting with customers at desks, without the traditional counter (and sometimes panes of bulletproof glass) between them. But the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services wants to see if this new “Well Experience” model is unintentionally revealing customers’ private medical information. [More]
5 Things You Shouldn’t Buy At The Drugstore
By 2.6.14
Sure, you’ll still be able to buy cigarettes at Walgreens for the foreseeable future, but what else should you pick up while you’re there to get your smokes? Nothing, apparently. [More]
This Walgreens Math Is So Fuzzy, Maybe Someone’s Messing With Customers
By 11.27.13
Kenny noticed this bit of fuzzy math while shopping at Walgreens. We know that buying in bulk can save you money, but this looks like some kind of experiment designed to test customers’ powers of observation, or possibly their desire not to buy extra drugs they won’t need and waste them. [More]
Get A Flu Shot, Get A Giant Grocery Or Drug Coupon
By 10.11.13
Retail pharmacies really, really want customers to get their flu shots there this year. How badly? They’re offering giant coupons to customers who get their shots there, ranging from 10% at grocer Safeway to 20% at pharmacy chain CVS. [More]
Sale At CVS Means You Pay Double
By 7.2.12
Shopping at CVS, Ajay noticed this odd sale on a seasonal item (sandals). Okay, it’s fine to charge more for seasonal items during the season when they’re used: that’s basic retail. But there’s something terribly wrong when employees put up a sign doubling the price on a sale item without batting an eye. [More]
