Walgreen Co.

Deerfield, Ill. – Walgreen Co. has named Linda Filler as president of retail products and chief merchandising officer, effective Jan. 1. Filler will be responsible for the vision, leadership, strategic direction and performance of all Walgreens merchandising activities.   

Never underestimate the creativity of unscrupulous customers is the key takeaway for all retailers following Walmart’s effort to implement a liberal price match policy this week.

New York –- Walgreens has reportedly filed for an eight-part benchmark bond offering to help finance its planned $5.3 billion purchase of U.K. drugstore retailer Alliance Boots GmBH. According to Bloomberg, Walgreens has filed with the SEC for three-, five-, seven-, 10-, 20- and 30-year fixed-rate bonds, as well as 18-month and three-year floating-rate notes.  

Deerfield, Ill. -– Same-store sales at Walgreen Co. grew 5.6% in October. Total sales were $6.8 billion, an increase of 6.9% from $6.36 billion for the same month in fiscal 2014.   Total front-end sales increased 2.7% in October compared with the same month in fiscal 2014, while same-store front-end sales increased 2%.   

Any retail marketer today understands that the value of a loyalty program lies in the data it collects and the ability to target consumers based on that data. But in today’s omnichannel environment, consumers have expectations on of how retailers are using their information what that data is “buying” them -- expectations that retailers are struggling to meet.

Digital Challenges

By Dov Cohn

Deerfield, Ill. – Walgreens and The Western Union Company have launched international and domestic money transfers through a new Western Union stage and pay kiosk model via the Walgreen’s Balance Financial platform. Customers can send or receive money at more than 7,650 Walgreens and Duane Reade locations in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Walgreens has partnered with WebMD Health for an initiative to help improve health and wellness in America by helping and incenting consumers to make healthier choices at home, work and on-the-go.