Walgreens

In 1901, Charles R. Walgreen Sr.Charles R. Walgreen Sr.Charles R. Walgreen Sr. (1873–1939) was an American pharmacist and entrepreneur who in 1901 bought the Chicago drugstore where he worked, thereby founding the Walgreens drugstore chain.Open the full entry opened the first Walgreens pharmacy in Chicago. He used $2,000 in borrowed money as a down payment to buy a corner drugstore priced at $6,000, about 20 feet wide and 50 feet long. Early stores sold both medicines and soda-fountain fare; to offset the drop in demand for cold drinks in winter, hot food prepared by his wife Myrtle was later added. In 1909, he opened a second store about four blocks from the first.⁠[1]

In 1916, Walgreen consolidated nine drugstores into Walgreen Co., and the chain began expanding under a unified corporate organization. Walgreens is the consumer-facing brand name, while Walgreen Co. is the name of the related operating company.⁠[2][3]

In 1922, employee Ivar “Pop” Coulson added two scoops of ice cream to a malted chocolate drink, creating the malted milkshake the company later promoted heavily. Walgreens stock began trading publicly in 1927, and the company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1934; company history records that by 1934 it had 601 stores in 30 states.⁠[1][2]

In 1952, Walgreens began adopting the self-service store format, and in 1960 it entered the Puerto Rico market. Company history also records the introduction of child-resistant medicine bottles in 1968, a trial of the Intercom pharmacy computer system in IowaIowaIowa is a state in the Midwestern United States; its capital and largest city is Des Moines. It was admitted to the Union on December 28, 1846, as the 29th state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 3,190,369.Open the full entry in 1981, and the opening of the first pharmacy with a drive-through window in 1992. These changes concerned, respectively, in-store retailing, medicine packaging, prescription information processing and prescription pickup channels.⁠[2]

Walgreens launched its website in 1999 and its mobile app in 2009, and expanded in-store immunization services during this period. Its digital channels later came to cover online refills, order management, photo services and pickup; physical pharmacies and online access points thus gradually formed a mutually supporting service network.⁠[4]

In 2010, Walgreens acquired Duane Reade, a pharmacy chain in the New York area. In 2012, Walgreens completed the first step of its investment in a 45% stake in Alliance Boots; on December 31, 2014, it completed the second step, forming Walgreens Boots Alliance. Walgreen Co. then became a wholly owned subsidiary of the new group, former Walgreens shareholders received shares of the new holding company on a one-for-one basis, and the new group traded on NasdaqNasdaqNasdaq is an exchange operator and financial technology company headquartered in New York. It runs The Nasdaq Stock Market and other markets and provides capital markets technology, regulatory technology, and data and index services. Founded in 1971, it combined with OMX AB in 2008, and in March 2026 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved its rules for trading tokenized securities.Open the full entry under the symbol WBA. The listed group WBA is thus not entirely the same entity as the Walgreens pharmacy brand or Walgreen Co.⁠[2][5]

In 2017, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved Walgreens’ purchase of 1,932 Rite Aid stores and related assets. Walgreens’ later historical review lists 2018 as the period in which nearly 2,000 of these stores were taken over and converted; the transaction was a purchase of some store assets, not a merger of the entire Rite Aid company into Walgreens.⁠[2][4]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Walgreens provided testing and vaccination services. The company launched the myWalgreens loyalty program in 2020 and began administering COVID-19 vaccines in December of that year; in 2021 it introduced micro-fulfillment centers to take over part of stores’ prescription processing. In 2022, it further launched a clinical trials business and around-the-clock delivery, extending its business to recruiting trial participants, back-end pharmacy fulfillment and more flexible delivery options.⁠[2][4]

Walgreens and primary care provider VillageMD launched a trial of five practices co-located with its stores in the Houston area in 2019. On July 9, 2020, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) announced an expanded partnership under which 500 to 700 physician-led “Village Medical at Walgreens” primary care clinics would open in more than 30 markets over five years, staffed by more than 3,600 primary care providers recruited by VillageMD.⁠[6][6][7][7]

Under the new agreement, WBA would invest $1 billion in equity and convertible debt in VillageMD over three years, including a $250 million equity investment completed the day before the announcement; 80% of the investment was to fund the opening of the clinics and build the partnership, including integration with Walgreens’ digital assets. Assuming full conversion of the debt, WBA expected to hold an approximately 30% ownership interest in VillageMD on completion of the investment.⁠[7][7][7]

On October 14, 2021, WBA announced an additional $5.2 billion investment in VillageMD, made up of $4.0 billion in cash and a $1.2 billion promissory note, raising its ownership on a fully diluted basis from about 30% to about 63%; WBA agreed to appoint a member of VillageMD’s board of managers to the WBA board. The transaction closed on November 24, after which VillageMD was consolidated in WBA’s financial statements.⁠[8][8][8][9][9]

WBA said the investment would accelerate the opening of at least 600 Village Medical at Walgreens practices in more than 30 U.S.United StatesThe United States is a federal country in North America made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia as the seat of government, and territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam; its capital is Washington, D.C. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted a resident population of 331,449,281, and the 435 seats of the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of the census.Open the full entry markets by 2025 and 1,000 by 2027, more than half of them in medically underserved communities; the two companies then had 52 co-located practices open. VillageMD remained a standalone company with its own board and management and at the time planned an initial public offering in 2022; it operated more than 230 practices in 15 markets, and its revenues had grown from $217 million in 2017 to an expected $1.3 billion in 2021.⁠[6][6][6][6][6]

On November 7, 2022, VillageMD announced the acquisition of Summit Health-CityMD, a provider of primary, specialty and urgent care, for $7 billion in consideration plus the assumption of about $1.9 billion in net debt, valuing the transaction at about $8.9 billion, with investment from WBA and Evernorth, a Cigna subsidiary; WBA committed $3.5 billion through an even mix of debt and equity.⁠[10][11][10][10][10]

The transaction closed on January 3, 2023: WBA paid $1.97 billion and Cigna $2.5 billion for newly issued VillageMD preferred units, and WBA also provided VillageMD with senior secured credit facilities totaling $2.25 billion (a $1.75 billion term loan and a $500 million revolving facility). After the transaction WBA held about 53% of VillageMD on a fully diluted basis and remained its largest equity holder. The companies said the combined company would have more than 680 provider locations in 26 markets.⁠[12][12][12][12][12][10]

In the second quarter of fiscal 2024 (ended February 29, 2024), WBA recorded a $12.4 billion goodwill impairment charge, $5.8 billion attributable to WBA net of tax, after lowering VillageMD’s longer-term forecast, including the closure of about 90 additional clinics, slower than expected patient panel growth and multi-specialty productivity, and changes in Medicare reimbursement models. In fiscal 2024, VillageMD approved the closure of about 160 clinics in total, with related long-lived and intangible asset impairments of $303 million.⁠[13][13][13][13]

On June 27, 2024, WBA began a strategic and operational review to simplify its U.S. Healthcare portfolio, including an assessment of its investment in VillageMD, with options including a sale of all or part of VillageMD’s businesses, restructuring and other strategic arrangements. In July and September 2024, shareholders filed two putative class action lawsuits against the company and some of its executives in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (later consolidated); the amended complaint alleged material misstatements or omissions about the performance of the VillageMD investment. As of June 2025, the defendants had moved to dismiss and said they would vigorously defend the case.⁠[13][13][14][14][14][14]

On October 15, 2024, Walgreens announced plans to close about 1,200 stores, about 500 of them during the then-current fiscal year. The Associated Press placed this contraction against a background of drug reimbursement pressure, retail competition and rising operating costs. The figure was a plan announced at the time and should not be read as the number of closures completed on the day of the announcement.⁠[15]

In the second quarter of fiscal 2025 (ended February 28, 2025), WBA recorded a $3.0 billion goodwill and long-lived asset impairment for the VillageMD reporting unit, $1.9 billion attributable to WBA net of tax, based on market indications of value received in the sale process for the legacy Village Medical business and lowered forecasts. Its quarterly report for the period ended May 31, 2025 said VillageMD was running a sale process for certain legacy Village Medical assets and Summit CityMD Holdco LLC assets and that there could be no assurance a sale would be completed; in the first nine months of fiscal 2025, VillageMD approved the closure of about 28 clinics.⁠[14][14][14][14][14]

In April 2025, Walgreens reached a settlement of U.S. government civil allegations concerning controlled-substance prescriptions and federal health care program claims. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the terms on April 21: the company would pay $300 million, plus an additional $50 million if an agreed sale, merger or transfer occurred before the end of fiscal 2032. The conduct alleged by the government concerned dispensing and federal reimbursement between August 2012 and March 1, 2023. The Justice Department also stated that these were allegations resolved by settlement and that there had been no determination of liability.⁠[16]

Walgreens disputed the government’s legal theories and denied liability. A company spokesperson told the Associated Press that the settlement was intended to end long-running litigation so the company could focus on operating its business and advancing its turnaround. The reported settlement was reached on April 18; the settlement date, the government’s announcement date and the news report dates should be kept distinct.⁠[17][16]

On August 28, 2025, Sycamore Partners completed its acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance. Walgreens announced the same day that Walgreen Co. would operate as an independent private company owned by Sycamore Partners and the Pessina family; the Pessina family reinvested its entire interest in the former group. Mike Motz became chief executive officer that day, John Lederer became executive chairman, and former WBA CEO Tim Wentworth joined the board.⁠[3]

The transaction changed the company’s ownership and management structure. The announcement described Walgreens’ future direction as a renewed focus on pharmacy, team members and customer service; these are post-acquisition operating goals, which do not establish that the turnaround has been achieved, and Walgreens should no longer be described as a company still independently listed under the WBA symbol.⁠[3]

Under the merger agreement for Sycamore Partners’ acquisition of WBA, former WBA shareholders received, for each share at closing, $11.45 in cash and one Divested Asset Proceed Right; each right entitles its holder to a pro rata share of 70% of the net proceeds from any future monetization of the company’s equity or debt interests in Village Practice Management Company Holdings, LLC and its subsidiaries (VillageMD), capped at $3.00 per right.⁠[18][18][18][18]

2026 marks the 125th anniversary of Walgreens’ founding. According to official media materials read on September 24, 2026, the company is headquartered in Deerfield, IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is a state of the United States that borders Lake Michigan and the states of Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Iowa; its capital is Springfield and its largest city is Chicago. It was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818, as the 21st state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 12,812,508.Open the full entry, and has about 8,000 retail locations in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, about 211,000 team members, and serves about 9 million customers and patients each day. These are approximate figures published by the company on the web page at that time, not cumulative historical store counts.⁠[2][19]