Founded in 1901, Walgreens is a national retail pharmacy chain and considered the leader in innovative drugstore retailing. Walgreens pioneered many store features over the last two decades that are becoming standards in the industry. Among those concepts are:
Computerized pharmacies connected nationwide via satellite, introduced in 1981 by Walgreens with its Intercom computer system.
Point-of-sale scanning — completed chainwide in 1991.
Freestanding stores with drive-thru pharmacies, introduced in the early 1990s. When Walgreens entered the Indianapolis market in 1992, initially with seven freestanding stores with drive-thru service, it was a watershed development. Since 1994, most new Walgreens have included a drive-thru pharmacy and today, more than 75 percent of Walgreen stores offer this convenience.
Expanded convenience foods section for the "pick-up-a-loaf-of-bread-on-the-way-home" customer.
Nationwide rollout of one-hour photofinishing service, now available at nearly all Walgreens stores.
Intercom Plus, Walgreens advanced new pharmacy computer and workflow system. Intercom Plus allows pharmacists to spend more time counseling patients by assigning administrative tasks to pharmacy technicians. Intercom Plus also provides patients with information sheets that include a picture and description of what the medication looks like — a feature unique to Walgreens. And with Intercom Plus' exclusive "Touch-Tone Prefills" feature, patients can use an automated phone system to request prescription refills and a pickup time. This information is fed directly into the pharmacy's work queue.
Walgreens' financial success has continued in step with its technical innovations. 2003 marked our 29th consecutive year of record sales and earnings. The company has paid a dividend in every quarter since 1933 and has raised the dividend for 28 consecutive years.
Expansion
In fiscal 2003, Walgreens opened 430 new stores. The company will open 450 stores in fiscal 2004.
Other Store Formats
In addition to drugstores, we operate these formats:
Walgreens RxPress and Walgreens Pharmacy. These are 2,000-square-foot stores with drive-thru pharmacies that also stock about 650 of the most popular over-the-counter medications. Walgreens RxPress operates in Evansville, Ind.; Spokane, Wash.; and Wichita, Kan. Walgreens Pharmacy stores are open in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties, Calif.
