Opioid overdoses can, and do, happen just about anywhere, from schools to public parks, from homes to workplaces, restaurants, and night clubs. Narcan (naloxone) is a drug that can be used to halt an overdose, and it’s increasingly being used to save lives by people other than police, first responders, or emergency room staff. In fact, the demand for Narcan is such that Walgreens will now be stocking the treatment and selling it over-the-counter at its pharmacies. [More]
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Walgreens & Rite Aid Will Close 600 Stores (Mostly Rite Aids) As Part Of $4.4B Deal
By 10.25.17
A month after the Federal Trade Commission gave Walgreens the go-ahead to acquire half of Rite Aid’s 2,000 stores for $4.38 billion, the chain says it will be closing 600 stores — and most of those will be Rite Aid locations. [More]
CVS Limiting Opioid Prescriptions Amid National Addiction Epidemic
By 9.21.17
Opioid prescription rates have more than tripled in the last two decades contributing to the nation’s current opioid addiction crisis, according to CVS. Now, the country’s largest pharmacy chain plans to do something about it by limiting opioid prescriptions. [More]
FTC Approves Walgreens’ Acquisition Of Half Of Rite Aid’s Stores
By 9.19.17
If there’s a Rite Aid store in your neighborhood, the odds are about even that there won’t be for long. The Federal Trade Commission has finally approved a deal between the No. 2 and No. 3 drugstore chains in the country, Walgreens and Rite Aid. Instead of acquiring the smaller chain, Walgreens Boots Alliance will buy around half of its stores. [More]
Walgreens Still Hoping To Get Feds’ Approval For Rite Aid Merger
By 9.18.17
For almost two years now, Walgreens and Rite Aid have been trying to make some kind of committed relationship work, but they remain star-crossed corporations. Walgreens wanted to buy the smaller drugstore chain, then switched to acquiring a few thousand of Rite Aid’s stores when it appeared that Federal Trade Commission approval wasn’t going to happen. Now “people with knowledge of the matter” say that a new version of the deal may finally meet FTC approval. [More]
Women Accused Of Stealing $69K Worth Of Cosmetics From 32 Walgreens, CVS Stores
By 8.3.17
How many CVS and Walgreens locations do you have to steal lipstick, eyeshadow, concealer, and other beauty products from in order to get to $69,000? According to the Miami Dade Police Department the answer is 32. [More]
Walgreens No Longer Merging With Rite Aid; Still Plans To Buy Half Of Rite Aid Stores For $5.2 Billion
By 6.29.17
It’s been nearly two years since Walgreens first agreed to buy competitor Rite Aid and its 4,600 or so stores for $9.4 billion to form the nation’s largest drugstore chain, only to see the value of that deal shrink amid antitrust concerns. Today, Walgreens announced that it’s scrapping that original plan to combine forces with Rite Aid but still plans to purchase about half of the smaller company’s retail locations. [More]
CVS Ditches Tanning Oil, Hides The Candy
By 6.28.17
We all refer to chains like CVS and Walgreens as “drugstores,” but they also sell everything from makeup to school supplies to snacks. However, CVS has been quietly revising its inventory and store layout to remove or deemphasize some items that are making customers less healthy. [More]
Rite Aid: Walgreens Merger Is On Track, Fred’s Buying At Least 1,200 Stores
By 5.4.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
How are things going with Walgreens and Rite Aid, who are still working on their planned merger to become the largest drugstore chain in the United States? In its annual report, Rite Aid reports that the merger is on track, and consumers can expect to have fewer drugstore choices soon, as around 3,300 Rite Aid stores change to Walgreens or close. [More]
Walgreens Says That All Prescriptions Count For Balance Rewards Program, But Not Quite
By 1.30.17 — Updated: 1.31.17
When the word “all” appears in an ad, are you supposed to take it literally? That’s a good question, and it’s an important question when it comes to how Walgreens advertises its Balance Rewards program. The store’s marketing claims that “all” prescriptions are part of Balance Rewards, but that is not true. [More]
Walgreens Slashes $2B From Value Of Rite Aid Merger; Up To 1,200 Stores To Be Sold Off
By 1.30.17
Last Friday, Jan. 27, was the deadline for the deal to close in the proposed acquisition of drugstore chain Rite Aid by competitor Walgreens. Today, the companies announced a revised deal with an eye to meeting Federal Trade Commission approval. This deal values Rite Aid at over $2 billion less, and proposes the sale of hundreds more stores to another drugstore chain. [More]
Walgreens And Rite Aid Still “In Discussions” With FTC On The Merger Deadline
By 1.27.17
Today, Jan. 27, is the deadline for Walgreens and Rite Aid to close the merger that they announced way back in October 2015. The companies didn’t ask for an extension or call the transaction off, so what’s going to happen to this deal? [More]
Walgreens Still Not Kicking Cigarette Habit, But Makes Some Products Less Visible
By 1.26.17
Three years after Walgreens said it would evaluate whether or not to continue selling cigarettes, and a year after it said it needed a bit more time to come to a resolution, shareholders for the drugstore chain are questioning the company’s choice to continue selling these cancer-causing products. [More]
With One Week Left, Walgreens-Rite Aid Merger May Be In Trouble
By 1.20.17
The proposed merger of mega-drugstore chains Walgreens and Rite Aid seems like a good idea to the companies, but the Federal Trade Commission remains skeptical. With a week left before the purchase agreement expires, the companies need the antitrust watchdog to sign off, and it looks like they may not get it. [More]
Citibank ATMs Will Replace Chase At Many Walgreens Locations In NYC, Chicago
By 1.17.17
If you’re a Chase bank customer in Chicago or New York City who relies on the ATM at your local Walgreens/Duane Reade to avoid withdrawal fees, we’ve got some bad news for you. But if you’re a Citibank customer, well, we’ve got some great news for you: more than a thousand ATMs will be transitioning from Chase to Citibank. [More]
FedEx Customers Will Be Able To Drop Off, Pick Up Packages At Walgreens Stores
By 1.11.17
We’ve all seen what can happen when a package is left out in the open or otherwise unattended, but not everyone can be home during the day, live in a doorman building, or have their stuff delivered to an office. Also? Some carriers just hate coming to your house. In an effort to solve these problems, FedEx and Walgreens announced plans to put delivery lockers in as thousands of Walgreens stores by the end of next year. [More]
Rite-Aid Selling 865 Stores To Fred’s For $950 Million
By 12.20.16
What to do, what to do, when you’re merging and want to be the biggest without being too big? Divest, of course. And that’s where Rite-Aid finds itself today: in order to sell itself to Walgreens and allow their onetime-competitor to become the biggest drugstore chain in the country, it’s ready to shed several hundred stores to build a new third-place competitor. [More]
Walgreens Files Suit Against Former Partner Theranos
By 11.8.16
Theranos, the startup that shuttered its blood-testing business after losing its retail partnerships and facing stiff sanctions by federal regulators, is now facing another challenge, this time in the courtroom: Walgreens has reportedly filed a $140 million lawsuit against its one-time partner. [More]
