1924: Expanding the soda fountain
Like other drug stores of the time, Walgreen's locations had a soda and ice cream fountain that did great business in hot weather. Instead of shuttering the counter in the winter, Charles Walgreen...
View Article1901: First store, changes from the beginning
Charles Walgreen is credited with making the store more welcoming by installing brighter lights, adding new products, like pots and pans, and greeting customers by name. Here's the inside of his first...
View ArticleWalgreens first store
Charles Walgreen created the first Walgreen's in Barrett's Hotel at Cottage Grove and Bowen Avenue on the Chicago's South Side. He bought the store from pharmacist Isaac Blood, putting a downpayment...
View Article2012: New flagship store in Chicago
Walgreen's returned to the corner of State and Randolph Streets in Chicago's Loop to open a 27,000-square-foot store with a pharmaicist, yes, and also a barista, self-serve fro-yo, a large section of...
View Article2012: Buys stake in Aliiance Boots
Walgreen's, which completed its acquisition of New York's Duane Reade drugstores in 2012, paid said $6.7 billion for a 45 percent stake in the U.K.'s Alliance Boots as part of a deal that may see it...
View Article2007: Take Care Clinics
In 2007, Walgreen Co. acquired Take Care Health Systems and with the acquisition, opened hundreds of clinics in its stores. Here, a nurse practitioner in a clinic examining room at the Walgreen's on...
View Article1997: Charles "Cork" R. Walgreen III
After Charles Walgreen, Sr., died in 1939, his son Charles R. Walgreen took over the chain until his retirement. Then Charles "Cork" R. Walgreen III, shown here, took over after Walgreen Jr.'s...
View Article1945: Background to history
Did you ever notice the Walgreen's store in the background of the iconic photo of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square amid the exuberance of the end of World War II?
View Article2013: Net-zero energy store
Walgreen Co. opened it's first net-zero location, a store that creates its own power, in Evanston. The store's distinctive technology includes two wind turbines, an electric vehicle charging station,...
View Article1988: Wag's Family Restaurants sold
Wag's was a chain of family restaurants, a la Denny's or Big Boy, owned and operated by Walgreens in the 1970s and 1980s. The were open 24 hourse and specialized in inexpensive fares like hamburgers...
View Article2007: Charles Walgreen Jr. dies
Charles Walgreen Jr., son of founder Charles R. Walgreen, died in 2007 at the age of 100. He served as Walgreen Co.'s president from 1939 to 1963, and as chairman of the board of directors from 1963 to...
View Article1929: Malted milkshakes for 20 cents
Ivar "Pop" Coulson, the backbone the Walgreens soda fountain since 1914, is credited with creating the chocolate malted milkshake in 1929, adding Walgreen's-made ice cream, made in a plant on East 40th...
View Article1930s: Walgreen's Laboratories
Walgreen's made many of its own pharmaceuticals to control the cost and the quality of ingredients. This shows a bottle filling line at a Walgreen facility in Chicago in the 1930s.
View Article1938: Deliveries during the holidays
Walgreen executives, pharmacists and truckers load hundreds of Christmas baskets to be delivered to be personally delivered to families in need.
View Article1937: On strike
Loyal and striking employees of Walgreen's drug stores protest near each other in the Loop. Some sign protested long hours and low pay, others carried signs proclaiming the company was fair.
View Article1936: New office building
Founder Charles R. Walgreen raises the American flag at the dedication of the new Walgreen Co. offices at 744 Bowen Ave. in Chicago.
View Article1963: New cafeteria design
Walgreen's changed to look of its in-store cafeterias, ditching the ice cream parlor chairs and white marble for booths and a space age look shown in this store at 79th and Halstead Streets.
View Article1965: Walgreen in the computer age
Walgreen's data processing manager demonstrates the company's computer to a group of professors attending Walgreen's annual seminar in pharmacy administration held in Chicago's headquarters at 4300...
View Article1972: Bringing in security guards
A private security guard brought in to prevent vandalism and theft at a store at 51st and State Street in 1972
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