Walgreens is the second-largest pharmacy chain in the US, and second only to CVS health. The chain specializes in filling prescriptions for various drugs, offers photo services and health information.
Walgreens first opened back in the 1900s as a small food store on Bowen and Cottage in Chicago. It was owned by Charles R. Walgreen. However, the chain had soon expanded to four stores in 1913, with a fifth that opened in 1915. By 1916 they had nine stores.
The 1920s were recorded as the best time for the store as they sold prescription whiskey during the prohibition. By the 1930s, the chain was worth $4,000,000, a lot of the money was made by selling alcohol during the prohibition under the counter.
There are currently over 9277 stores across all 50 states, including the U.S Virgin Islands, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Walgreen’s success can best be summed up by its purpose statement which makes it worth analyzing.
Walgreens Mission Statement and Analysis
Walgreens’s mission statement is: “To champion the health and well-being of every community in America.”
Interestingly Walgreens does not have a mission statement, but they do have a purpose statement, which is pretty much the same thing.
- The first half of this statement talks about being the leaders in the health and wellness space. It shows that the company is striving to be ahead of the competition by focusing on the health of its customers. That usually means carrying high-quality products like supplements, pharmaceuticals, and a bunch of other health-related stuff.
- The second part of the statement is more in line with the company’s corporate aspirations, which in this case is to serve every “community in America.” That also points to the company’s ongoing push to expand into new territories across the US.
Walgreens Vision Statement
Walgreens’s vision statement is: “To be America’s most-loved pharmacy-led health, well-being, and beauty company.”
Few companies talk about their ambition of being loved, but Walgreens isn’t shy to mention it in their vision statement. However, being loved means that the pharmacy has a loyal band of customers, which is the case with Walgreens. The company takes many different steps from offering discounts to loyalty cards, making sure that people continue to love them.
The second part of the vision statement is also interesting because Walgreens refers to itself as a “beauty company,” in addition to well-being and health-related. That’s significant especially considering Walgreens growing focus on offering beauty related products. So, it isn’t hard to foresee the company focusing as much of its store space on beauty as it does on health and wellness.
Walgreens Core Values
Walgreens’s core values are: “Trust, partnership, integrity, honesty, and quality care.”
An interesting set of values, especially since the company mentions “partnership” and “quality care.” It is, in our opinion, alluding to Walgreens partnerships with leading brands as well as lesser-known ones. On the other hand quality care is perhaps the company’s indication that its customers are well taken care of because only top quality products are sold in their stores.
“Integrity,” “trust,” and “honesty” are essential core values for any company. However, in the case of Walgreens, these values have been engrained into the legacy of the chain over the past several decades which have helped make them a success.
