What Is Going On At Walgreens? | Retail Archaeology
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2024
- Let's take a look at what's going on at Walgreens.
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I've become so sick of this corporate blandness thats taken over every major company over the last 15 years. The same sterile, minimalist designs. The "Alegria" art assets and marketing. The transparently fake "we care about you" facade etc.
Yes! And these companies spend money to remodel every couple of years, thinking they'll get more business, instead of (heaven forbid!) hiring more people to run registers and assist in other ways, which is what customers really want!
@@honeypie1764To be fair, at least at my store, there’s about 3 people on per shift. 2 associates and 1 leader. So far after working for a year, I don’t see why this doesn’t work unless the other associate is an ass and doesn’t respond to any of the calls we put when we have a long line. But those people don’t last long. If you ask me. Walgreens issue is constantly wanting to milk money from their consumers. By locking deals and coupons behind an app. They know majority of elders aren’t going to bother learning and pay full price instead of saving money. There’s also the horrendous credit cards we have to shove down your throats because corporate made a 10 year deal with a bank during the pandemic to shill as many cards as they can for max profit.
@@honeypie1764To be honest though, their product selection makes no sense generally. I associate Walgreens with over the counter medical and beauty products.
Their battery and SD card section (and prepaid phone section) have always been a joke, even 20 years ago. That’s a prime location to put some great products, not garbage!?!
Also why so much candy, cheap toys, and extremely small sections ie cloths, nicknakes, as seen on tv. YAWN
Lastly, we literally live almost few blocks away from a Walgreens, why not get milk and some frozen food there. 1) Price is criminal 2) I fear the food is expired considering the already low foot traffic
its really been that way for the past like 40 years tho.. just slightly different every 10. The more things change the more they stay the same.
Lot time, they keep saying miillnal like. Corporations are just telling people what they want instead of listening to customers.
Several mistakes?
Walgreens got involved with Theranos, that's how bad of mistakes they made.
your profile pictures looks to be someone of Asian or Indian dissent which would explain the theranos refrence... NERD
The true reason is that they expanded too much too quickly. There was a reason that Walgreens pulled out of San-Francisco quickly, thieves are just a hip casus belli right now.
Never mind the "drug store" business falling out of fashion because of online prescriptions. I use the air and FAST for TV service and every late night/early morning on aerial multicasters is permeated with adverts for discount 'enhancement drugs' like "Friday Plans" or the "Blue and Yellow Pills".
@@Code7Unltd
another thing
I like to add
an area can really only support so many business especially a niche one like Walgreen's So they start opening up competing stores when ever a CVS opens or vice versa. and now you got an over saturated market and both stores are hurt for it. MEANWHILE the Walmart probably in the same parking lot steals away the reminder of business as they flounder.
probably why CVS are in Target's now
@@Michael-sb8jf This was definitely true throughout the early and mid 2000s and 2010s. It seems that, in Houston, every time I would see a CVS go up, I would see a Walgreens go up a few months later within a block of the CVS. And, I saw the reverse happen as well. I remember telling my wife at one time that there is no way both CVS and Walgreens can maintain this "keeping up with the Jones" way of doing business.
Although, I will also admit, getting involved deeply with that Theranos scam was definitely not a wise decision on Walgreens part. Never take a sociopath CEO who is trying to mimic Steve Jobs by both dress and voice at their word.
Oh dang i forgot about that. Lol.
The digital displays on the coolers are an example of the concept of: "Just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD" in action.
They put those in so they can change the prices easily
I bet you whoever invented that stupid electric door was probably an American and not a Japanese.
One of the heads at walgreens is also with the company that makes those display doors so wow what a surprise
I am old enough to remember when people were genuinely excited about the glorious future technology would bring us. Back then people would have come from miles away to just stand and gawp at those coolers with the digital screens. As for being able to speak to a machine. That would have blown people's minds.
The technology gurus pushing the great new exciting world of technology failed to deliver and everyone is jaded and cynical. Technology has made our lives worse not better.
I wonder if they also do it to help new employees with stocking items. Since now they have a visual to go by instead of having to read UPCs.
Whoever thought up those LED doors obviously doesn't understand that LED's are not the type of thing to be slammed constantly and survive.
Yep
They could likely have found a way to prevent slamming like some kind of mechanism that closes the doors slowly similar to but better quality than most modern cupboards and drawers. And yet I'm doubtful they even thought about it.
Those displays need to be transparent with a display overlay and minimalize intrusiveness by making ads 75% or more transparent background and have the ads always moving to avoid permanent blocking of certain areas in the fridge. Or no ads. Then the product pictures, names, and quick info need to be manually prompted in some way by like touching the handle with a message that appears telling you to touch the handle to see pictures and names of products in the fridge. I don't want to see the available products with anything but my own eyes unless I choose to get more info by gripping the fridge door handle or tapping some apparent area.
These are the brain trust of former CEO Greg Wasson. After leaving Walgreens, he started a VC group, got sold this ridiculous concept, and turned around and sold the concept to Walgreens. Roz Brewer, CEO from 2020-23, said they reminded her of Vegas (not the good parts), said they need to go, and Wasson sued for breach of contract. Wasson is the leader with the most fault for where Walgreens is today; he was at the helm for multiple strategic mistakes (including Theranos).
Does anybody know why they introduced this? Was it initially for accessibility not that these shelves are accessible to people who use wheelchairs or anything but I’m wondering if they did anything else then project a picture of what was in the freezer but when you open it, everything is disorganized.
So I think the theory is the glass doors are actually not very energy efficient because they don't insulate well and they also require heaters on them so they don't fog up. So in theory a much better insulated opaque door with an LCD screen should use less energy. It probably doesn't in practice though. It's a dumb idea.
All those sale shelf tags... what a mess. When EVERY last item has a special sale tag, then NOTHING stands out. Like I try to explain at my job, when every job is hot, then NO jobs are hot.
So true, when every thing is on sale, nothing is really on sale
Most the tags are buy one get one 50% off... On products you would never use or need 2 of.
CVS does this and it's just awful
The "when everything is, nothing really is" is truly a philosophy I highly sympathize with. And could use massive adherence. Because Less truly is more.
Those LED Screen Cooler doors are very stupid
they are the worst.
When I first saw them I was like, "Wow, that's cool!!!". Then 2 seconds later I realized they served no purpose and actually made the store experience worse.
Such a waste of electricity. Must everything have technology?!
@@dskillzhtownYep
Clearly thought up by some ignorant corporate idiot whole thought: tech good, AI go brrrrr!
I worked for CVS for 15 years. So glad I went back to school got my degree and got out of retail ✌️
Smart!!!
Were all VERY proud of you.
jej
How old were you when you went back to school?
@@MargaritaMagdalena I was 32 when I went back to school, graduated at 36.
The photos plastered to the doors are actually blown-up copies of their own plan-o-grams. Just leave off with the screens and let the glass do the work for you, Walgreens!
I was curious about this myself but if you look at the door inside, you’d have to take down what is essentially a large TV off of the window, and even then. I don’t even think there’s real glass there anymore.
@@pr9334Sucks to suck. Don’t do stupid business decisions in the first place 😅
Inaccurate ones too, unless that milk shelf really is four feet tall.
@@LookToWindward Looking at it, it seems that that particular shelf would be 4 feet from the starting reference point for the plan-o-gram. Seems weird that they number their shelves from the top and go down.
I used to love Walgreens. I used to go there during different holiday seasons because they would always have holiday themed snoopy plushies that I would always get. They stopped doing that years ago and I can’t remember when the last time was I was in there now.
I hope you still get holiday snoopy plushies. please. especially Christmas...tho get one for all the holidays.🌠
CVS still does the holiday plushies, they even have the cheesy dancing standing ones too! Sometimes it's those little things that matter the most
@@viedal Indeed, those little things really help brighten one's day. Thank you for your comment.
Yes, they do sometimes have unique items that other stores aren't selling. I always thought their selection of squishmallows and fluffy socks was better than other stores. That being said, one only needs so many of those things, and everything else there is overpriced. These stores are often located next to a Walmart, Big Lots, or other discount store with better prices and a better selection of everyday items. It's really not worth the trip to Wallgreens unless you need something specific, like a special holiday item.
if I had to guess, walgreens based their business like a gas station does their business, where you need to go in there for one thing you NEED, but then go into the store to go look around and check out impulse stuff. but the problem is that walgreens is for medicine, and not everyone needs that. They really needed to figure out a better business model; having all of the batteries and photography stuff overpriced doesn't work with amazon existing. The biggest and worst complaint I know people hate is the animated fridge doors. there's essentially no point for them existing and are a massive waste of money to try to scrap data from people.
They were trying to get compete with 7-11 for the convenience store business. They succeeded, but it didn't matter much because convenience stores are on the decline.
CVS was trying to do the same thing, until they pivoted to mail order and other healthcare related business - and Walgreens is trying to play catch up.
I tend to use them for a quick bottle of water more than medicine. Also make good Uber pickup spots, not that that helps Walgreens.
And even if people are desperate and need it NOW, they're still doing to be pissed to be paying that high of a price. Do you really want to make your customers angry when they shop with you? I'd think you want your customers to walk out feeling good, not irritated. But everything in these stores now seems designed to irritate
From my time there in the 2010s, pharmacy was always their lead at 75%+, depending on store. Cigarettes was always second, and then times around holidays was always bustling with people trying to get whatever odds and ends (think mothers day with cards and little knick-knacks/candies, or 4th of july picnics with suntan lotion and water guns). It was fine to have a front end for people to peruse while waiting for a prescription, but it realistically doesn't really have a purpose anymore with the convenience of amazon's one day shipping.
I vaguely remember meetings telling us to implement something along the lines of "go for 1, leave with 3" where after you help find the item they need you're supposed to "help" them buy at least 3 more things. None of walgreen's pressure-focussed approaches ever worked and just made people mad. I think corp was probably just to detached from reality.
Walgreens is made of incompetancy at every level, local and Corporate. There was a Walgreens across the street from a school I used to work at. School would start at 8:00, and that Walgreens has never been open before 8:00, even before covid. If they just opened one hour earlier, they could easily make more than the labor cost of that extra hour catching the traffic from the parents and teachers coming in. The only alternative was a busy grocery store an extra 10-15 minutes away in the heavy morning traffic.
Walgreens has forgotten they are the convenient choice. They are expensive because you are supposed to be in and out with your stuff when other stores would be too much of a hassle. Instead they cut staff so they are running around the store instead of ready to check out, and every grocery store with a pharmacy has better hours than them anyways.
HTP1862:
You make a brilliant observation in the second paragraph of your comment.
I reside in the Capital City of one of the southern (Gulf) states.
We have Walgreens and CVS --- they are all over the place. But we have scads of big-box supermarket chains, and Walmart and Target.
They ALL have pharmacies, and sell just about everything that Walgreen's does ---- at a significantly lower price.
I would suggest Walgreen's patronage is convenience, loyalty and medical insurance coverage of prescriptions.
To their credit, I've found their pharmacists to be quite helpful and knowledgeable.
Your point about the lack of staff hits hard. I was running some errands and needed some stuff from Walgreens so I did a buy online, pickup in store order so once I was finished at another store, i could quickly grab the stuff from Walgreens. My order had 3 items and it took the employee over 20 minutes to get the items. This was in a dead store too. And in the end she only got two items because the last one was out of stock
One of the items that was “out of stock” was cough syrup. Lo and behold, I went over to the cough syrup isle and found over a dozen comparable products along with the exact item I ordered. At least the employee had the grace to look embarrassed when I was once again paying for the item I ordered
Yep. Just like CVS (place we frequent just for our prescriptions) everything in their store is wayy overpriced. Ugh. Ridiculous.
Only thing that was not bad was that small Sonic Doll they run between 10 - 13 dollars all on the store you go to.
CVS is insanely expensive.
I considered Walgreens expensive, even with the paltry 15% employee discount.
There's a CVS just up the road from my home, but I haven't set foot inside for several years.
cvs/walgreens is like going to the mall for me.. once in a very long time lol. I see online shopping replacing a lot of these retail places; online shopping can be a little crappy if its food to home(which they make mistakes).
former employee here. I was there when they merged with the UK company and during the lawsuit over price tags. Also worked on the wet lab (processing photos with chemicals)
ONLY shop at walgreens on sales.
You HAVE to use you walgreens card or you dont get the sale.
DO NOT buy anything from the freezer section. it is inventoried like once a year by the photography section (its one of your duties)
CHECK dates on everything, again inventory problems
The shift leaders and managers FUCKING SUCK
The front cashier is over the first 9 aisles or so...facing, inventory, sweeping, mopping
the photo lab takes the rest of the aisles, the freeze and coolers, including duping milk down the drain 3 days before expiration. yes 3 days is the day you dump it.
beauty only takes care of their section
A ton of responsibility on the cashier and photo lab, almost too much with also dealing with customers.
Our store closed at 10 and we would leave after 11:30 due to cleaning and facing aisles/stocking. Then have to be there next day at 7am...was bad
our store had chia pets. The bob ross ones came out while i was an employee
I had a 3 day weekend scheduled over 6 months in advance and was denied on the weekly schedule print out the week of. So i said fuck it and took off anyways but did call the floor shift leader who was on duty. She lied and said i didnt call so i said fuck it and quit in the middle of an extremely business christmas shift leaving them with no one who could cashier in the store XD
This is why I don’t get mad at retail workers. Thankless job with little respect.
@@JustDaveIsFine561 unless they are doing a shit Job. If they're good workers then yes lol
Pure respect dude!
I helped install 22 of those dry labs on the SF Peninsula . The Wet Labs were removed because of environmental mandates. That Photo counter was also where you got money added to your Clipper Card (Regional Transit pass). Yes, staff had a LOT of duties
@@steveurbach3093 I used to be able to change a roll of paper using the blind photo tent just using my hands in less than 30 seconds
You had to put the photo paper in a canister type thing using a dark tent box and change out the paper without the light on it because the light would ruin the paper. It took skill but I did it so much I could do it pretty quickly
I loved the wetlabs and the quality of photos were much better. The very last set of photos that were done on the lab I worked at was from a 400lbs woman named Sacajawea spread eagle on a bet naked. I will never forget that. She picked up the photos a week later.
It was fucking wild what people got developed
One time a local theater owner had some pics done that had him in pigtails and cut up Jean shorts with the ass out with a girl with "mikes ass" written on her back in what looked like lipstick. I could have blackmailed so many people lmao
Walgreens is trying so hard to be CVS. They aren't CVS and it's killing them slowly by following that model.
i think a thing that hurting walgreens rn is they kept cutting hours and overwhelming their pharmacies. the pharmacy is already an extremely fast paced high stress job to the point pharmacists, who have doctorate degrees, usually for pretty prestigious universities, with the student loans to back it up, leave within the first few years or die via heart attacks. the turn around at cvs and walgreens esp is astonishingly high.
almost the only ppl who fill at walgreens are required to by their insurance. ive seen ppl pay cash instead of their insurance for their prescriptions just so they don't have to use walgreens countless times.
As an ex photo guy there, a lot of people still do print photos and a lot of them, just off their phone and digital cameras. Our digital camera were cheaper than the disposables nowadays too. That photo department goes crazy around Christmas for cards and gifts, and a lot of the stuff does make good gifts.
As for the prices: it’s to drive the rewards program. Mark something $5, but if you set up an account you can get it for $2. There are alright deals to be found when stuff is on sale, but a lot of our business were people walking because we were closer than Walmart or they were already there.
At my store they actually expanded hours, then cut staffing to below what it was before. Hence why we started having a turnover problem.
The one thing I will give them credit for is that they pay very well for the employees they do let work. Not many retail jobs that you can make a decent living at any more.
They should advertise more that you need an account to get a decent price then 😂
You had enough staffing for you to man the photo area?
@@deborahproctor9538 technically SFL but photo was mine by default in the evening, partly because photo is fun to me and because we were so short that we could never train cashiers to work over there.
Also an SFL, and can confirm the photo department can get off the charts sometimes. At our store, we get a lot of requests for magnets, but most of the time, our Fuji printer is on the blink, so we can't do them.
I could make a decent living there if I was given the hours I deserve, and was promised. Looking for an escape right now honestly. Walgreens is not a consistent job. Guess what! They’re still hiring at my location even though us who have been there for a year, year +, get maybe 20 hours in a month anymore. Biweekly pay. Had two shifts in a month, had to wait for my $60 paycheck! Thank God I am not single, I would not survive. I’m insulted, stressed, irritated. When you give yourself to a failing company you kind of fail yourself. If I could go back and just apply to a different place, I would. Spent almost a year stressing about this job everyday. When the whole point was -to have a job- doesn’t even feel like that anymore. And whenever I am in, everyone is stressed to death, everyone has an edge with each other. Very toxic place. A lot of big companies are fkin toxic. Go figure
Employee here, corporate wants the credit cards to sell. It’s all they talk about, did you ask them about the credit card, we aren’t selling enough credit cards, the credit cards aren’t selling etc etc all day long. All the while we continue to raise prices but corporate won’t raise our paychecks with it, something is always broken in our stores and understaffed
That same model was the demise of Sears, if memory serves.
Yep same here they want to push those credit cards! Not very many people want since interest rate too high
I work there too, I think about quitting every day.
Like always, late to the game
LOL! Who da fucc would want a dedicated Walgreens store credit card when almost everything they sell stands out as how overpriced they are compared to other stores.
The only time I’ve gone to Walgreens or CVS in the past decade is if myself or somebody is sick and I need OTC meds quickly and without having to trek to a larger store. It’s less walking to go into these stores. I guess call it convenience. They’re massively overpriced and I only go if absolutely necessary. There is usually one staff member seemingly for the entire store. Sometimes you’ll see a manager standing around breathing down the cashiers neck and not doing much else.
That’s basically what I use the Canadian version (shoppers drug mart) for…. Things I need fast and don’t want to trek to Walmart (or it’s Really late )
I just go to CVS for vaccinations and to pick up odds and ends because their rewards program is fun to use. They are so bloomy expensive where I live.
@@gmcnewlookShoppers for us has the post office in the back so I might pick up something on sale while there
Walgreens is ruined by corporate managers that have no retail experience, they forget that they’re a drugstore company, not a health care company! My location was a former Eckerd’s and Rite Aid that was bought by Walgreens several years ago, and they ruined the store with the awful beige interior, and removed the vending machines like lottery tickets, Glacier water machine, and Coinstar.
Also they don’t really develop film anymore, they sent it out to Fujifilm which take weeks! My local camera shop downtown develops film in one hour and sells the same disposable camera for just $18! What is Walgreens thinking for selling it at $36!
Yes the current owner of Walgreens and Bootes made his billions in wholesale industries.
@@kathleenbannatyne9002 Walgreens shouldn’t have merged with Boots, and not bought the former Rite Aid locations that were already in bad shape. They shouldn’t have hired Roz Brewer, she never worked in a drugstore environment!
@@Markimark151 Agreed!! On all the points you made. Except after research the original narrative was spinned incorrectly. The "be well" CEO of Walgreens helped Stefano Pessina take over Walgreens. The Walgreens family is no longer involved after 2014. Pessina had already acquired Bootes in 2012. This is all his doing. I'm sure the three Charles R. Walgreens are turning over in their graves at what he did to the company😢
@@Markimark151 And Roz made the stock plummet from $95 to $20, hired all her friends into corporate positions and still got every cent of her contract!
@@kathleenbannatyne9002 She was also ranked the worst retail CEO of 2023, because she steered Walgreens away from its core retail pharmacy business to a failed healthcare distributor! And she got a golden parachute like nearly ten million bucks because of her contract! That’s robbery, she doesn’t deserve a single penny for plummeting the stock value!
Looking at the frozen food prices i just laughed. Most are at least $2 cheaper at Target and Walmart. No wonder they're hurting their prices are ridiculous.
Convenience. You would be surprised. Some people will pay extra for the convenience of a smaller corner store. Some of my own family members despise walking through a Walmart and all their hassle at a busy checkout.
I pay extra for the convenience of not having to wait half an hour in line at Walmart.
@@vistatiger7493 Exactly. People will pay more for milk, a soda or whatever if they know they can be in and out of a store quickly.
@@vistatiger7493Yep
You'd be surprised how many on ebt cards buy their food there!
Those low res pictures on the doors are plan-o-grams. What the use to set the layout and spacing of the shelves.
Those screen freezer doors are the dumbest waist of money that ive ever seen. Like what is even the point. Insane.
The drug store model is pretty much dead. Myself and a bunch of people I know have moved to local pharmacies. I won't be sad to see this model gone.
You people have local pharmacies? All there is around me are the chain stores.
Local pharmacies near me charge WAY too much, we go to walmart.
nah online pharmacies will kill most of these chains.
@@van3158 My local pharmacy is no more expensive than anywhere else. Have you tried recently? I think the playing field was leveled from what I hear.
@@mistermood4164 Nah, When I need medical stuff I don't have time to wait for an online order. I need it yesterday. Brick and mortar drug stores aren't going anywhere.
The digital screens are insane, the "corporate" angle of everything is awful. I wish every chain pharmacy would just disappear, so that there would be some minor chance that the old 'american corner store' local business would come back, but the entire healthcare industry is in on this B.S.
Just another part of the great scam.
Most likely the idea of some Harvard MBA 😂 😂 😂
I know I hate this futuristic silly thing we have now.. we should just have the 1995 look for the next 1 million years
@@jonnieinbangkok yup, the same people who ruined Boeing
@@jonnieinbangkok yup, the same people who ruined B0elng aircrafts
Walgreens charged me $100 for a $10 prescription. Transferred my prescription to Publix pharmacy & paid $10. Everything in CVS & Walgreens is overpriced.
Same thing with a CVS inside of a Target store couple years ago after I had my heart go out of rhythm, and went to the urgent care on a Sunday, CVS charged me $35 for a 30 day supply for my heart med, after I was able to get to my regular doctor a few weeks later I moved it over to the local Kroger, it was $16($18 now but no big deal) cash price for a 90 day supply, it's insane what CVS, and Walgreens get away with!!
It really sucks that CVS drove a great little community pharmacy near me out of business. I'm pretty much stuck with CVS since I have Aetna.
You need to check who your preferred pharmacy is with your insurance plan. If you use a non preferred pharmacy you will get higher copays. Most people don't understand this. It is all contracted. Just like you have tiered copays as well.
Yep in CVS like the 2 for 5 deal on sodas.... Just skip it and get it at the gas station instead
The unfortunate thing is, if a Walgreens or a CVS are not an approved pharmacy on your insurance, going there, you will have to pay a higher price usually. Especially those on Anthem (BCBS) Medicaid, and some Medicare because the federal side of it wants to almost force you to go Mail Order. That really isn’t Walgreen’s fault on any of it, but I can see where ppl get upset. I’m a Pharmacy Tech and deal with this same issue every day. As for the business model, yeah, they’re not doing great. Not just that, but all those discount cards (I’m looking at YOU GoodRX, Singlecare, etc) they will only show you the lowest rate based on whatever state is the lowest at that time, which WILL NOT be what is run through the system, because they are trying to get a cut of your med purchase and that’s why it is usually higher than what it’s “advertised”. They can help, but are really scammy in how they go about it.
So, the remodel made the stores boring? Because taking away their distinctive color plan and replacing it with beige is quite a bizarre choice. Now they look more like the inside of an old Aldi's.
And made it harder to tell what's in the coolers? How does inconveniencing your customers make good business sense?
I assume these newfangled electric cooler doors that keep breaking down cost more than a regular cooler door with regular glass.
I'm guessing they thought they could sell add space on the cooler doors.
It's a pity, but it looks like the wrong people are running Walgreens.
I worked for Circuit City, Silo, and Sears. I know full well when a company is being poorly run. This company is in big trouble.
Have not thought of Silo in years!!
6:12 Wow that’s a first time I’ve ever seen a Cooler Screen doors displaying freezer/refrigerated products. Honestly it’s so useless and tacky.
Walgreens needs to focus on what they're good at and known for..pharmacy, makeup, food, photo...thats it. Double down on these things and keep prices low.
Walgreens is slowly morphing into Kohl's. A store that's lost its focus on its core mission and offers a bizarre variety of stuff unrelated to their place in the market. Also don't forget having overpriced merchandise and having to do perpetual sales and reward promotions to move the merch.
Boots is a UK chemist chain, been around since victorian times.
They started turning into a department soore in the 80s, but reeled back to be more a place to pick up prescriptions and more female beauty products.
Also the first chain in the UK to sell NES games.
Hey Larry!
The Boots stores I've been to or have seen in the UK are fairly upscale, clean, bright and inviting compared to many stores here in the U.S. That may have changed however.
@@kennixox262 The larger ones are quite smart inside, the the local town Boots are small and haven't really been updated since the '90s.
@@kennixox262 Of course times have changed. London's common shopping hotbed (you know, "High Street"?) is mostly full of loud and garish "American Candy" (yes, it's "candy", not their customary "sweet") stores along with usually empty Turkish barbershops now.
Larry Legend 🎉
Walgreens is unfortunately the only place you can get photos developed or printed that I know of which is in my city, so I pop in from time to time. Other than that, I don't exactly hang out at stores.
If you are doing digital photography, numerous high quality online printing companies are reasonable prices. Even Amazon does it.
Where I live, the photo department rarely has an employee around and the equipment for printing photos doesn’t work. I have tried multiple stores and they all have the same problem. I don’t go to Walgreen’s anymore for this and many other reasons.
@@landedeagle69 Occasionally, I still shoot film but take my work to a pro lab. I realize that this is not an option of many but pretty much the only game in town anymore.
@@kennixox262 Yes, I have started sending photos to Mpix to be printed. I’ve been happy with the prints they do on their esurface paper.
One of the largest grocery chains in Tennessee just removed magazines completely. Gone.
No Chia Pets
Walgreens is done for
I never had a chia pet. I never understood the allure. I had a nightmare once where green leaves were growing in my hair. I never realized before that it was probably after seeing the commercials. It was really random.
@@caragarcia2307 It looks cool when it grows, but it dies right away. It is not that impressive.
The chia pets are seasonal, we only get them in for Christmas.
The video screen freezer doors are about hiding low inventory from customers. That's also why the shelves are so close together with see-through bars and the doors are mirrored on the back facing the product. At 6.40 you can see half spots only have 1-3 items, and none of the others have more than 5-6, though they stack and front to make it look like there are more. The close, see-through shelves make the tiny overpriced boxes look bigger, and the visual confusion of seeing multiple products through the bars along with the mirror suggesting an illusion of expanded shelf space makes the space seem bigger and cluttered with more products than are actually there.
Youd think that better merchandising or spring loaded pushers would be cheaper than 6 ft led screens?
They have put these into grocery stores and that is part of it. Eventually those doors will lock also and only certain people will have access.
Revelation 13:16-18 KJV
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
I love the video screen doors
The only reason I go to CVS is to pick up prescriptions since it's in walking distance, Dollar Tree has taken over the reign of place to buy snacks.
the snacks at dollar.50 tree are garbage. I'm lucky I have a trader joes.
In my area of Texas Walgreens is busy. It has a busy pharmacy and fairly busy shopping. I really don't like the cooler doors either.
I feel grubby after going to my local Walgreens. It just feels outdated and dead. The photo section doesn't need to be there, the staff don't want to be there, and if it wasn't for the pharmacy counter, I don't think it would even exist. Visiting a Walgreens also makes me question the role of bricks-and-mortar retail now. I can't think of the last time, apart from grocery shopping, that I've had to go out to buy something I need. I used to love going into the city centre (when I lived in the UK) and go round the shops, or go into town to buy a book or some art supplies. Online is convenient, but the community impact is deadening.
I personally still utilize the photo sections of drug stores. It's convenient for making photo albums, scrapbooking, or just framing pictures to put around your house. I'd hate to see them be phased out.
Great job. The stores are too big with ridiculous prices and not nearly enough pharmacy support. They don’t answer their phones either…they are doing this to themselves.
I worked at Walgreens in 2003, only morons call the store. That is why people don't answer. If you need something then go into the store and stop trying bug people over the phone who are busy with customer waiting in line.
I stopped going to Walgreens when they stood behind their pharmacists who; 1) denied the sale of doctor prescribed medicine to a woman and 2) another that refused to sell condoms to a married couple based solely on moral objections.
Also, those digital freezer windows truly are the dumbest marketing decision I've ever seen.
I genuinely fucking hate those.
$6 for a 1 ounce bottle of iodine tincture. They are way overpriced. The one thing I specifically went there to get is so expensive that I ordered a big bottle of strong iodine tincture online and never went back.
They never improved on good old iodine.
I am so old I remember when Woolworths had a luncheonette counter. We would go there to shop and grab a bite.
Oh, Yes. Many a breakfast at the counter before my bus arrived out front.
89 cents for a 12 " sub with a cola
@@geraldc.37 Great memory! Those were the days.
@@steveurbach3093 much simplier and better times back then.
@@sgrafx You could get a grilled cheese sandwich and a milkshake and buy a goldfish or a hamster all in one place. Woolworths was the best.
I used to work at Rite Aid and one of the stores in my area apparently has a quirk in the lease that they aren’t able to remodel without approval of the owner of the building and the owners won’t approve anything so it’s like a time capsule of ‘90s aesthetics and it’s incredible. Like their aisle markers still say “audio tapes” and “radios” (even though they don’t sell them unfortunately). Also if you think incompetence has run Walgreens into the ground, they’ve got nothing on Rite Aid.
everything is depressing now I want to go back to the 80's
late 80's, and early 90's was an awesome time for retail for sure as everything was more colorful, I was so sad when a few years ago the local Target in my area that was built in the 90's moved away from the 90's Neon signage, and to the more modern Target look.
I used to live a few blocks away from a neighborhood Walgreens back in the late 2000s/early 2010s as a teenager. It was the only place within walking distance to hang out back then. They used to have a big station for fountain drinks and coffee with cafe snacks. I was there at least once a week making unholy drink concoctions since it was about only $1.50 for a big cup (I think it involved vanilla shots, Dr. Pepper, and Mountain Dew). It was also when they still sold YuGiOh cards, which is how I played with my friend at the time.
It feels weird to say I have fond nostalgia of Walgreens of all things, but it was a simpler time, haha.
I wonder if you could replicate those "unholy concoctions" on a modern Freestyle machine...
@gordontaylor2815 The next time I come across one, I'll give an update.
In a small wealthy suburb in the 2000's our CVS was the only thing open 24h a day, after 8pm it was like an all-ages frat house. I don't know that they were better times but it beats socializing online. Makes you wanna shoplift a booster pack. For the memories, of course.
Update; I happened to find a drink machine near me that had the same buttons as the old drink machine (not a freestyle machine). It was missing the Hi-C, but everything else was there. It was pretty nostalgic, probably wouldn't recommend it though, haha.
I used to work for Walgreens in the pharmacy. The amount of programs that would get shoveled out without us knowing what was going on at the store level was mind boggling, i'm talking not even a training module. It was very clear there was a disconnect from corporate to store, and the answer just kept being 'cut employee hours'. My thought was always that if you wanted to carve a demographic of "the place to get well and get help", you should have an abundance of staff to help everyone. Seeing the profit margins on some of the things like flu shots, you'd think they'd want to do everything in their power to make it an easy experience for the consumer for retention. Mark Cuban's digital pharmacy is probably the final nail in the coffin for most retail pharmacies, with just the ones in target/grocers existing for emergency medications like antibiotics and eyedrops that you really don't want to wait for, and specialty pharmacies like compounding.
I moved back to Tucson after 17 years abroad and quickly noticed how Walgreens has plummeted in quality.
Not to mention at least 3 Walgreens stores in Tucson have closed down just within the past 2 years.
During the Covid lockdown, Walgreens became my sole source of food. I was in a city that panicked hard and watched as stores had their shelves emptied. No food, no toilet paper. On a whim i tried Walgreens and, no one was there. PLENTY of food! So for the entire lockdown it became my sole source of food and supplies BECAUSE it was so underutilized. it also became a source for meds when i caught covid in '19.
K0vld d8dn't happen
@@kevin2400 you have schizophrenia
Electronics department has almost nothing in it now. Clearance shelf is not as robust as it used to be. Generic H&B and drug stuff is higher than any other store. Pharmacists aren't there half the time. No good budget wine options anymore. Impulse buys of candy no longer an option due to prices. No more good prices on snacks. Office supplies section out of the question now due to prices. etc etc. Almost every other store you can name has more product options and better prices and better pharmacy service than Walgreens. You could say they've built a "wall" between me and my "green" because they haven't been getting any lately.
Walgreens is where you go when you want to get sick
As all drug store chains struggle, one chain which no longer has locations in Arizona but Eric if you had plans to travel to Southern California anytime soon, I’d definitely take a walk through a couple of Rite Aid locations. Rite Aid is dealing with a bankruptcy and has already closed more than 250 stores including some in the Seattle area under the Bartell Drugs banner, a chain Rite Aid purchased a few years back, but has unfortunately closed multiple locations including the only 24 hour pharmacy in Seattle city limits.
We can blame the online market, but many pharmacy deliveries people make online are still coming from traditional drug store pharmacies.
RiteAid and CVS are the reason why we have the cookie-cutter small drug stores. They expanded into the Midwest and West by buying drug chains like Osco, SavOn, Longs, Thrifty, and Payless-who all operated larger stores, basically discount stores with pharmacies.They pushed the small East Coast style small store format-a pharmacy with a few aisles of other items- to the West Coast-reducing the size and selection of those stores..or moving out of them all together.
Here in New Jersey, I find that Walgreens is one of those stores where the quality varies from one to another. But generally, the stores that were built by the company tend to be run better, while the ones they aquired from other chains (Rite Aid, Drug Fair, etc) tend to be more unkempt. But if anything, I find that CVS is way worse than Walgreens out here.
Also, I totally agree with you on those fridge screens. I'm not sure what group of overpaid executives thought those were a good idea, because they're the definition of a solution to a problem nobody had. Fortunately, at least around here, they're not super common.
Only time I'm there is to purchase embarassing stuff for my Doordash customers.
Candy, Gatorade, Gummy Worms, Ice Cream Bars, I tell customers if Walgreens was out, I’d order from Safeway, lol.
As a contractor who used to work at Walgreens, I was told it makes the bulk of its money from the pharmacy. It was a shocking number like 90 percent or more from drug sales alone. The other things in the store are just bonus money.
That is true. The pharmacy has always been the money maker for Walgreens
I quit shopping at Walgreens because the cashier would always comment on the specific items I was buying. WTF
It's evident that Walgreens is facing some challenges in adapting to changing consumer needs and preferences. A key takeaway here is the importance of staying in tune with your customer base and continually evolving to meet their expectations. 💡
I went to the Walgreens that I used to buy shampoo and toothpaste recently. They didn't have the White Rain or Suave brands of shampoo anymore, and when I asked another customer, she said it was because Walgreens got bought out by another company, which changed many of the previously available items.
One thing that I always hated about Walgreens was how the sales tags would say "three for $2" and you had to buy three to get that sale price. Grocery stores never do that, they just divide the $2 by three and give you the sale price no matter how many you buy.
In Belgium, we have a chain called Kruidvat and are Walgreens lookalike (products, aisles, photo-booths, candies, etc)... but it's always FULL of people because they are constantly making sales, reinventing a way to be appealing to the clients every season. I go there for the bulk-candies before the movie (1 €/100 g) and always looking through the 5 different -50% end-displays, it's great!
Ja jong ? ...je kunt klein kruidvatje niet met Walgreens in de VS vergelijken. Heb je ooit zo,n Walgreen's in het echt gezien ? Daar gaan er in eentje zeker 1O kruidvatjes.Amerika is gewoon helemaal de kloten op. Zoals Bel en Ned binnenkort ook
On my travels in Europe, I've found Rossmann and dm to be great chains with excellent private label merchandise. The prices are significantly lower than what we pay for similar items in America.
@@pilotgrrl1yes!
My favorite stores in Belgium and The Netherlands are HEMA and Flying Tiger.
i never really thought I would be defending Walgreens, but here I am. I think the prices and quality of Walgreens really depends on the location. In central florida, walgreens is usually fairly busy, especially in the tourist districts. When I worked at one near Disney in 2021, it was NONSTOP from 6pm to 3am. I live away from tourist districts now and the local Walgreens stores are still pretty busy. I was in Washington DC in March and those Walgreens were also popping every time I went in one. The prices near Disney are ridiculous, but the prices near me now are about the same as Target, though not as cheap as Walmart (that disposable camera is $22 at the Walgreens near me, which is about the same price as the Target near me and their ISO 400 film is actually cheaper than at Target). Ultimately, I like Walgreens because its a smaller building. I don't always want the hassle of going to Walmart, Target, or Publix. Walgreens being a smaller store is its draw for me. (I do really hate those electronic doors though. I hope the ones near me don't adopt them.)
I'm a SFL at a Walgreens in Central Florida and I'm watching this video like WHAT? Where is Walgreens this empty?? We are open 6-12 and we are slammed 6-12. We also have a full photo lab that doesn't quit, books, canvases, floating frames, all very time consuming. And now with online/curbside orders it's even worse. My biggest complaint is staffing. They cut hours so bad most of the time there's only 2 employees, a SFL and a CSA running everything. They continuously add more work while taking away hours and no pay adjustments. It gets extremely overwhelming.
As a retail manager, this channel is gold!
Thank you for saving me from boredom, waiting for the baseball game to start :)
Got hotdogs and beer?
I haven't been in a Walgreens since I left Arizona, but that interior design looks very cold and corporate. I heard that they have the highest level of theft.
in Brooklyn half the store is locked up…today i went to get dishwashing liquid and some of them were locked up. They are like $1.
They should just opt for COstco membership, apply their own membership with debit/CC card/ID, with everything unlocked.. Most stores in general should. As no one cares for petty theft anymore in the US.
Walgreens is good when I need to pick up something really quick. If I need a greeting card, some cough drops, some gum, some candy something small like that, I will go into Walgreens or CVS because I know I can get in and out quickly.
The cooler displays looked cool for like half a second, then I had no idea what purpose they had. It was alot cheaper and easy to just look through the glass! It probably seemed cool on paper, but functionally it is terrible. I do hope Walgreens makes it, it is good to have a store I can go into and get something quickly. and not have to deal with a big parking lot.
That looks like what is going on at Rite-Aid near me. Empty shelves, sparse product selection, very few customers.
Rite aids closed down in my area its becoming a dollar general now
they just closed down 20 Rite Aids in our area.
The “10 o’clock project section” was so accurate. Walgreens allowed me to turn a few certain f’s in to d’s 😂
I’m avoid Walgreens because of how gross it looks inside. It’s just all white and dirty, blinding white lights. Rite aid is much better.
In the last year, at least 4 CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aids have closed within a half mile radius of where I live. Seems like these drug stores opened too many locations near one another to survive over the last 15 or so years. IMO the likes of CVS and Walgreens are going nowhere, they’ll just be less of them around.
Well rit aid is no more Walgreens took over some of their stores but closed ones that werent performing
And in areas where Rite Aid still has a major presence, don’t be surprised if that company releases another round of store closures. It sounds to me like they are going in a direction like Sears where they are slowly releasing a list of closings and slowly winding down some of its operations. Not the same way like Shopko did when their bankruptcy happened, released a big list of closings and then weeks later they would close all remaining stores.
@@Railfan77 I've always gone to a local Rite Aid in a large urban California city and I sadly agree. It wasn't hit by the original wave of closures but is always dead inside so it probably still won't last long. I have kind of been thinking of switching anyway because they are constantly out of meds. It seems like stores just don't know how to function anymore, they're all making bad choices and burning to the ground.
I go to Walgreens a lot. It's one of those places where it's on the way home so if I need to pick up something in a hurry, it's easier to go there. It's also one of the best spots to get certain things in NYC in a lot of cases because they're everywhere. There's one in the basement area of the building I work in which is fairly common
I would go to Walgreens more often if everything in the store wasn't so expensive.
Digital cooler doors: Just because you can put them in, doesn't mean you should.
They are the only place to print photos the old "one hour photo" way. No one else does it. They are also quick if you need that one thing(that is more expensive) and don't want to go across town to wal-mart or wherever to get it.
The Walgreens I go to in Manchester, CT is always hopping, and that's where I get my prescriptions filled. The Pharmacy at mine is open 23 hours (closed at 1:00 AM for the pharmacist's lunch.
In my area in the Midwest, Walgreens are always packed with people. Some are there for the pharmacy while others run in to just get something quick and avoid the grocery store. Some of the busiest ones are right across the street from a CVS. None of them are slow. They print money.
I live in the northeast. Grocery stores are too busy. It's convenient to grab a few things at Walgreens or CVS.
Same.
This explains why I'm always receiving coupons and "hey, if you come back you get this discount".
The Walgreens where I live is always full of people. He seems overly critical of Walgreens as if he were traumatized in the store.
Back in the day, I used to work for Thrifty and later Rite Aid. When people started buying beauty products online, it was the death of drug stores. Back in the day, our store was extremely busy. Also, the drive-through pharmacies give no reason for customers to come into the store, browse, and pick up extra products while they waited. We also sold a great deal of holiday products, Christmas, Halloween, Easter, and summer specialty items. Now, people buy online or pick up their drug store items at Walmart or Target when they are already there for other reasons. Also, prices used to be more competitive to Walmart and Target, back in the day, now , no longer true.
That cooler door is just about the worst 'invention' I've ever seen, terrible e waste. Who tf signs off on something like that??!!
I'm fairly sure the person that signed off on that was a Wags exec that also had a staked interest in the company making the doors
My brain melted a little seeing $36 for a disposable camera 😅🤯
they also sell Nilla Wafers, those cheap cookies in box for $6.99, that shocked me. I remember buying those for 2 for $3, don't seem that long ago.
That's my uncle at the end of the Chia Pet commercial! 😀
I shop at Walgreens all the time. I'm in Austin, Texas and was looking forward to them having clinics but I haven't seen any. I was approved for a Walgreens card and hoped to use it for clinic visits. It got cancelled within 6 months due to inactivity and because of the type of client I was. Since I don't have health insurance I was hoping I'd have the card for back up to cash. WHAT?! I have noticed less staff which is so sad because you know they're overworked. They used to have a person in cosmetics that could guide you to products, One told me about their full return policy on any cosmetic for any reason. I was grateful to hear that. It isn't advertised and may not be a valid thing anymore. I don't see any cosmetic specialists anymore. They've been gone for a long time. Yes, I hate those screens on the cold section doors. All & all I love the drive up close, intimate experience of getting lots of things in one place even if they're more expensive. Some things aren't more expensive and the coupons and reward program are pretty good. I also can find some homepathic health products which is awesome.
My parents are boomers and they both take mountains of meds, but they get everything in the mail. No need to go to any over priced drug store. If they have a question they ask their doctor, not the overworked stressed out Pharmacist.
Thrifty Drugs was a great store in its day. Ice cream stand. Magazine rack that had Woodworking magazines and Amateur radio Magazines. Film for camera. It was also between home and school. Which I made a stop often for a 10 Cent cone and a look at a magazine.
I remember Thrifty, there was one a block away from where I grew up. Then it got converted into a Rite Aid and they removed the ice cream and magazines. I stopped going right after that happened. I miss the ice cream counter and the large thrifty bucket of ice cream.
I miss Thifty Drugs
Thrifty, so great...walking there as a kid to get ice cream on Christmas..
Ex Walgreens’s employee here. Our photo department was definitely our busiest department. We were always super behind on photo orders since canisters are expected to print AND run the front of the store. While we were pretty busy, our regulars were extreme couponers. As for hours, there were always hours to schedule but never enough people. Stores mostly started to close sooner due to a lot of Robbie’s happening later during the nights.
Robberies^
Excited there has been uploads lately. Great stuff.
I got a weird hit of nostalgia because the first Walgreens is my childhood Walgreens and the one I went to get my Covid shot at.
The interior hasn't changed in 20 years, those mirrors were fun to stare at as a kid.
In my city, they built a Walgreens one mile down the same street from another around 2008. I think they were so flush with pharmacy money from opiates and were expecting it to continue.
That's an interesting observation.
It hadn't occurred to me that one of the reasons they're not doing as well is they can't get as many people addicted to opiates.
@@beejls Ehh it's a lose lose situation for pharmacies. Refuse to fill a prescription and its "Well you're not my medical doctor, they wrote it now fill it!" fill the prescription and it's "Look they wanted to get people hooked on opiates" even though they can't get someone hooked if the doctor didn't write a script in the first place.
Last time I went to Walmart was during a medical emergency last September to pick up a prescription, and there was no pharmacist on duty.
As a non-American, the only time I shop at Walgreens is on vacation, and for me, it's really about whether the Walgreens is closer, or the CVS. It's weird seeing drug stores struggling. At this rate, in 5 years, grocery stores are going to be struggling.
When I lived in my apartment in North Canton, Ohio, there was a Walgreen's right down the road. The _only_ reason I ever stepped foot in that store was to buy Cinnamon Toast Crunch ice cream, which was sold only at Walgreen's stores. Sometime in 2021/2022, they stopped carrying that type of ice cream, and I suddenly had no reason whatsoever to go into the store.
The Walgreens near me is always dead too you should do one on CVS next if you have any near you
Love your channel! I found your channel back in 2020 while the fun pandemic was happening. Really enjoy the nostalgia! Finding out you’re from Arizona, specially the Phoenix area is even cooler to know! I grew up in Phoenix. The “dead mall” series was epic! Getting to see Fiesta and Metro Center malls before the demolition was great! Super cool stuff man! Keep it up! Kmart ruled! Ha!
As far as stuff being locked up, it all depends on the location. The walgreens in my city locks up toiletries, condoms and plan b pills.
I was visiting San Francisco and went into a Walgreens and half the shelves were behind lock and key, including the bagged nuts 😂
I saw Tide Pods at the 2nd location he covered locked up.
@@Railfan77 You can’t have those Tik Tokers eating those Tide Pods 😂
Can’t help but notice your TH-cam profile name. I see you railfan in the Pacific Northwest. I’m in Southern California so mainly focus on the LA area, Tehachapi, Cajon Pass, and the desert areas around Barstow.
As someone who works retail, i actually appreciate the digital displays on the doors because prices are constantly fluctuating and everytime they change, an employee has to go around and manually change all the price stickers. It's an easy job but very tedious and takes a lot of time. This way, when the prices change, it's all digital so it requires very little manpower. Just a thought.
Aesthetically it's trash though.
Didn't even know Witch magazines existed in regular stores. Kinda cool, but pretty weird for Walgreens.
There’s surprisingly a pretty big market for witch magazines! Witchcraft is a multi-billion dollar industry right now.
Great video here! I agree, the "old school" stores were a lot more comfortable feeling. Other than convenient later store hours, thinking Walgreens only hope of survival is to get customers inside the store to shop while picking up prescriptions.
Store recording... " oh and remember the pharmacist goes on a lunch break from 1:30 -2pm" lol
I’ve been to the local minute clinic at CVS and it’s been very convenient. The physicians there have been very helpful and knowledgeable. Especially when I had questions about diabetic issues related to the pandemic.
I worked in IT at Walgreens corporate HQ in Deerfield, IL. I lasted less than 9 months. It was the most stultifying job I've ever had. People would line up on the carpet at the edges of their departments, waiting for the operator to say, "Good evening, the time is now 5 o'clock. Have a pleasant night." Then it was off to the races down the central staircase. I saw a woman going up right after the thundering herd started going down. She got trampled, and broke one of her legs in multiple places. The bean counters had a firm grasp on the company's cojones then; it's even worse now.
They are becoming the Sears of pharmacy - most of their stores are way overdue for remodels. I have a Village/Walgreens combo near me and while I've never visited the clinc the remodel of the Walgreens is quite nice. I like that it's smaller, but I really wish they had self checkout. there's usually only one cashier and theyre just sooo slow
Cvs is bad too