Essay On Walgreens

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Introduction Walgreens Company which is based in Deerfield, Illinois was founded in 1901. With 166,000 employees, Walgreens operates a series of drugstore chains and clinics across the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam (Finance Yahoo, 2010). The drugstore’s product lines include prescription and non-prescription drugs, eye-care products, personal care, beauty care, household items, photo developing and finishing, office and gift items as well as limited food staples and seasonal items. Pharmacy products and services are also provided through counter service, in-store clinics, mail, telephone and internet. As of its last Annual Report issued on August 31, 2009 Walgreens operated 7,496 locations with 6,997 drugstores, 377 worksite facilities, …show more content…

Not only does Walgreens compete head-to-head with CVS/Caremark, a relationship which will be discussed in more detail later on, but it also has to contend with large scale discount retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target. In 2006, Wal-Mart rolled out its $4 generic prescription program for 30 day prescriptions and $10 generic prescription program for 90 day prescriptions (Boulton, 2006). Walgreens tried to counter this by offering a $12 generic prescription program but individuals have to pay $20 and families have to pay $35 to enroll in their program while similar programs at other pharmacies are free (Walgreens Prescription Savings Club Overview). These types of programs pose a serious threat to Walgreens because as more consumers visit large discount retailers like Wal-Mart for other merchandise, they will also use Wal-Mart to buy prescription drugs due to convenience. Consumers buying prescription drugs from other countries pose a serious threat to Walgreens as well. Advances in pharmaceuticals have greatly transformed health care over the years, and although pharmacies have introduced some low cost alternatives, the cost of prescription drugs continues to rise. Rising pharmaceutical and prescription costs have led consumers to shop for drugs online and in other countries. In Canada, Mexico and other countries, …show more content…

(2008, November 17). 2008 Annual Report. Retrieved June 18, 2010, from Walgreens: Investory Relations: Annual Reports/Proxies: http://investor.walgreens.com/annual.cfm
Walgreen Co. (2009, November 16). Annual Reports/Proxies:2009 Walgreens Annual Report. Retrieved June 15, 2010, from Walgreens Investor Relations: http://investor.walgreens.com/annual.cfm
Walgreen Co. (2006, December 22). Walgreen Co. Reports 24.9 Percent Earnings Increase and Record Sales in First Quarter 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2010, from Walgreen Co. Investor Relations: http://investor.walgreens.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=223201
Walgreen Tests Store Brand Prepared Foods. (2010, January 19). Retrieved June 3, 2010, from Store Brand Decisions: http://www.storebrandsdecisions.com/news/2010/01/19/walgreen-tests-store-brand-prepared-foods
Walgreens Co. (2009, October 15). Walgreens Announces $2 Billion Share Repurchase Program as Part of New Capital Allocation Policy. Retrieved June 20, 2010, from Walgreens: Newsroom Info: Press Releases: http://new.walgreens.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=5227
Walgreens Prescription Savings Club Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved June 3, 2010, from Walgreens:

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