In addition to the items listed above--and Walgreens' more traditional offerings, including candy, [image-nocss] potato chips and soda--there will be meats, wraps, soups "and other on-the-go meal options, as well as convenient alternatives for tonight's meal," said Elfinger.
An Outer Richmond store, which began stocking its fresh food shelves last week, is one of approximately 30 in the Bay Area where the pilot program will roll out through the summer. "As we learn from this initial test, we believe there's potential to expand this offering to more stores in the Bay Area," he said.
In September, Walgreens started a pilot program in Chicago focusing on "food deserts"--neighborhoods underserved by grocery stores. "We made a commitment to seek solutions for offering these communities more fresh and healthy food options," said Mark Wagner, a Walgreens executive vice president, in announcing the Chicago program.
After Walgreens took over the Duane Reade drug store chain in New York, it expanded Duane Reade's "delish" line of fresh food. There are plans to start similar programs in several hundred Walgreens stores nationwide, the report said.
Apart from the health aspect, which has made some wonder why it continues to sell alcohol and cigarettes (except in San Francisco, where pharmacies are banned from selling the latter), Walgreens is following in the footsteps of other major chain retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Target, that are getting into the fresh-food business in a major way.
"With our three fresh-food pilot markets, we hope to give consumers more options and more reasons to visit our stores," said Elfinger.(Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of Walgreens and its fresh-food initiatives.)For more on how retailers are dealing with food desert concerns, watch for the June issue of CSP magazine.
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