One to Watch- Walgreen's

            Gone are the day's of the corner chemist. These days drug stores fall somewhere between a grocery store and a convince store. And for sure they can be found almost every  street corner and intersection nationwide. Some shoppers frequent them for little things they need to pick up on the way home from work, while others, like my mother, live there. They have almost anything you could possibly need including milk and frozen dinners, prescriptions and photo development. And hey, they offer coupons and customer cards to boot. The benefits are almost endless, I mean who wouldn't pay a few cents more to save the time it would require to drive all the way over to the grocery store? Really in many cases the price of the gas to get there may even amount to the savings. The CVS's and Walgreen's really have it made.What else could they offer?
              Well in a recent article in WWD I read that Walgreen's is making moves to revamp their beauty assortment. The retailer too note of Duane Reade's Look Boutique which featured high end cosmetics. They will be focusing on premium priced beauty and beauty advisers. In addition they are changing the store format to fit the new high end products.
                They have already transformed one of there Manhattan locations to test the idea. The new format is "open and airy", and keeps with the "bohemian feel of the neighborhood". The layout is sleek, well lit and affords customers ample space to browse. The primary focus of the will be in skin care but Walgreen's has no plans to exclude it's current customer. They just want to include a new one. Prices range from $25 to $50.
                 Though no details have been provided as to the exact locations of the new stores they will probably be in urban areas that have the traffic and the market for them. Considering how often people tend to stop in these store for sheer convenience I think it's was a really smart move on the part of Walgreen's. I mean why not pick up you skin care regime there if they offer it. Visually the new format is impressive for a drugstore and I feel like it will effect the way people see beauty product's at pharmacy's. It has a very boutique like yet urban presence and I'd imagine quite a different, classier, feel. Stepping up their offering in this way, and through skin care is intelligent. There is not one person who does not want to look or feel better about themselves, particularly in this aging market.

                  So to all the CVS's of the world watch out because Walgreen's is bringin' it in a big way.