Walgreens
Walgreen Co. (Additionally commonly
abbreviated as WAGS) doing business as Walgreens
(without an apostrophe), is the largest drugstore
chain in the United States of America. As of August
31st, the company operates 8,210 locations across
all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto
Rico. Founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1901, and
has since expanded throughout the United States.
Walgreens is currently headquartered in the nearby
suburb of Deerfield, Illinois.
The Walgreens chain began in 1901, with a drug store
on the corner of Bowen Ave and Cottage Grove, Chicago,
Illinois, United States owned by Galesburg native
Charles R. Walgreen, Sr. By 1913, there were five
Walgreen drugstores. He added several improvements
to the stores such as soda fountains and luncheon
service. He also began to make his own line of drug
products and was then able to control the quality
of the items and sell them at lower prices. By 1913,
12 stores were in operation, all in Chicago. And
in that same year, all the stores were consolidated
under Walgreen Co. The 1920s was a very successful
decade for Walgreens. In 1923, the company opened
stores outside of residential areas and also introduced
the malted milk shake in 1922. Walgreens also established
its own ice cream manufacturing plants to match
the demand for ice cream at that time. By the mid
1920s, there were about 44 stores with an annual
sale of 1.2 million dollars. By this time, Walgreens
had expanded into other states like Wisconsin, Missouri,
and Minnesota. By 1930, there were 397 stores in
87 cities with annual sales of 4 million dollars.
(Source: Wikipedia.org)
|
