Walgreens to Open First Stores in Alaska in 2009
Walgreens (NYSE:WAG)(NASDAQ:WAG) plans to open its first stores in Alaska in 2009, giving the nation’s largest drugstore chain a presence in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Walgreens expects its first store to open in Anchorage during summer 2009, with two more locations opening before the end of calendar 2009. The company is initially focusing on Anchorage and South-central Alaska, although no specific sites have been announced.
“With a fast-growing, over-65 population, the need for pharmacy and related health services is expanding in Alaska,” said William Hose, Walgreens vice president of store operations for Alaska. “We’ll help meet those needs with services that are currently hard to find or don’t exist in the market.”
Walgreens is known for pioneering the concept of a drugstore with a drive-thru pharmacy more than 15 years ago. Today, they’re a standard feature in Walgreens new stores and are especially helpful to the elderly, to parents of small children and in inclement weather.
Staying connected to the Lower 48 can be challenging at times, but Walgreens will make that easier through special pharmacy and digital photo services. With all Walgreens pharmacies across the country electronically connected, a patient’s prescription information is available at any Walgreens when they’re traveling. That also makes taking care of prescription needs easier for residents who spend any extended time outside Alaska. And with digital photo services available both in-store and online at Walgreens.com, customers can send photos to any Walgreens drugstore nationwide for pickup by family or friends in an hour.
Recognizing the needs of a diverse pharmacy patient base, Walgreens offers prescription label directions and pharmacist counseling in 14 different languages. “With nearly 20 percent of the Alaska population speaking a language other than English, our language services can make a big difference in patients getting the most benefit from their drug therapy,” said Hose.
A typical Walgreens is about 14,500 square feet and includes 25,000 items, including pharmacy, convenience foods, over-the-counter health products, greeting cards, cosmetics and beauty aids, household goods and photofinishing. In the coming months, Walgreens will work with local vendors to provide products specific to the needs of the Alaska market. “We’re committed to offering a broad selection of local products so that from the first day, our customers feel at home in our stores,” said Hose. “We’ll learn from our local vendors what is important to Alaska’s customers, and that will be reflected in our merchandise offerings.”
Other special services Walgreens offers include:
— Flavoring that can be added to liquid medicines that take the “yuck” out of the medicine’s taste for children. Walgreens offers 11 different flavors.
— The Walgreens Prescription Savings Club, which offers savings on more than 5,000 brand name and generic medications. In addition, club members pay only $12.99 for a three-month supply of more than 350 generic drugs.
— Convenient, inexpensive and environmentally-friendly printer cartridge refill service – a smart way to lower computer printing costs at only $10 for a black cartridge or $15 for color.
— Cafe W, a self-serve beverage fountain and food bar.
— Beauty advisors to help customers find just the right skincare product or new lipstick shade.
— DHL shipping service available inside each store.
As the company progresses on site selection, Walgreens will keep the community informed of its plans. “We have a lot to offer residents, and we want to be sure the Alaska community has first-hand information from us about our services and entry into the nation’s 49th state,” said Hose.
Each Alaska Walgreens will employ about 25-30 people, including store management positions, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, photo specialists, beauty advisors and service clerks.
“We’re going to make substantial investments in Alaska in the years ahead,” said Hose. “Providing great customer service and operating successful stores here will mean more opportunities for residents to have long-term careers with us. And it will mean we can have a greater impact on Alaska’s health care needs.”
Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) is the nation’s largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2007 sales of $53.8 billion. The company operates 6,204 drugstores in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Walgreens provides the most convenient access to consumer goods and cost-effective health care services in America through its retail drugstores, Walgreens Health Services division and Walgreens Health and Wellness division. Walgreens Health Services assists pharmacy patients and prescription drug and medical plans through Walgreens Health Initiatives Inc. (a pharmacy benefit manager), Walgreens Mail Service Inc., Walgreens Home Care Inc., Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy LLC and SeniorMed LLC (a pharmacy provider to long-term care facilities). Walgreens Health and Wellness division includes Take Care Health Systems, which is comprised of: Take Care Employer Solutions, a provider of worksite-based health care services at more than 370 employer campuses, and Take Care Consumer Solutions, the manager of 171 convenient care clinics at Walgreens drugstores. Through these growing services and its drugstores, Walgreens plans to keep people healthier and more productive through 10,000 points of care by 2012.
This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The following factors could cause results to differ materially from management expectations as projected in such forward-looking statements: seasonal variations, competition, risks of new business areas, the availability and cost of real estate and construction, and changes in federal or state legislation or regulations. Investors are referred to the “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in the Company’s most recent Form 10-K, which Note is incorporated into this news release by reference.