One of my biggest challenges each day is time. Finding time. Time to get my kids to school. Time to make lunches. Time to get exercise. Time to get laundry done. Time to run errands. On the hierarchy of my to-do list for each day, running errands trails behind everything else. But, errands are very important. I need to stop and pick up that prescription, those two gallons of milk, bandaids, a bottle or two of fruit juice for the school party, or shampoo. We can’t live without this stuff, so I have to stop…but when do I have time to stop? Truth is…I don’t have scads of availaable time in my busy day. I squeeze in errands when I can.
What I like to do is get my shopping done in one place. Get all the shopping items crossed off my to-do list in one fell swoop. Love that! I love crossing off stuff on my to-do list. What helps me to accomplish crossing of everything on my to-do list is making one single stop. The neighborhood drugstore has always been that place for me. I live in a rural area. I’m a 10- to 15-minute drive from a gas station, supermarket, and drug store. I wonder sometimes how I would feel if I lived in the suburbs or even in the city and had to fit in errands around commuting to work and school.
The Walgreens slogan is “at the corner of happy and healthy,” which is apropos since the Flagship Walgreens Store is at the corner of 7th Street and H St., N.W., in the heart of Chinatown. Last week, I had the privilege of attending the opening celebrations of this very unique store in Washington. D.C. I live about an hour or so from D.C., but love getting the chance to take in the sights and sounds of D.C. whenever I get the chance. The Walgreens Flagship Store in Washington, D.C., is truly a one-stop shop…part coffee bar, part minimart, part pharmacy, part sandwich shop. I took a photowalk through the store…you can find it here.
Here’s a little snapshot…a 411…a bit about the Walgreens Flagship Store:
- Located at 801 7th Street, N.W. — corner of 7th Street and H Street, N.W. — in Washington, D.C. in the heart of the Chinatown district.
- Over 21,000 square feet.
- Open 24 hours, seven days a week.
- The Pharmacy is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
- There is a Take Care Clinic available for all your medical needs. The Take Care Clinic is open 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday-Friday; 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
- The Walgreens Flagship Store is three floors…three floors jampacked with everything you could possibly want.
- Lower level…Pharmacy, Take Care Clinic, medical supplies, and more. First level…Upmarket Cafe featuring fresh brewed premiium coffees and espressos, a well-stocked fruit stand, frozen yogurt bar, sushi, sandwiches,and so much more. Second level…Look Boutique, beauty department, Nail Bar, Eyebrow Bar, and more.
New at the Washington, D.C., Walgreens Flagship Store…
Located on the lower level at Walgreens is a state-of-the-art pharmacy. My first observation was that I couldn’t see any pharmacists preparing medications. All of the medication preparations at this Walgreens is done behind the scenes. The pharmacy is spare and tidy with a pleasing airy look. Customers needing to get a prescription filled can talk to an iPad-equipped health guide who will help them navigate. Or customers can have their doctor phone in their prescription. Either way the process for obtaining a prescription is easy for the customer.
Near the Pharmacy is the Take Care Clinic. Seeing the Take Care Clinic adjacent to the Pharmacy, I was struck by just how convenient it would be to see someone about your cold and then walk a few steps to get your prescription filled. Wouldn’t this make everything so much easier for you? I have to drive from my doctor or the walk-in clinic to get a prescription filled. Bausch + Lomb has introduced SightSense, an online and in-store patient education program to heighten eye health awareness and encourage customers to take proactive steps to protect and preserve their sight.
The first level of Walgreens Flagship Store features a variety of food selections: Upmarket Cafe for premium blend coffee; hundreds of on-the-go food options, including, wraps, sandwiches, chips, and over 130 varieties of Coca Cola fountain drinks from the Coca Cola Freestyle machine; and there is even a self-serve frozen yogurt stand with a plentiful toppings bar.
And wait til you see the second level of Walgreens Flagship Store. Up an escalator is the LOOK Boutique. The LOOK Boutique is a beauty department like no other. Looks more like a department store beauty department than a regular drug store, but then again from what I have seen this Walgreens Flagship Store is not like any other drug store. One featured line of skincare is Boot’s No. 7, a well-known British brand. In addition to No. 7, I saw many other skin care and hair care brands, including curling irons and hair dryers. For those with a little more time to spare, there is even a Nail Bar and Eyebrow Bar. For the young professional, with time to spare before meeting friends for Happy Hour, the LOOK Boutique would be the perfect place to browse, shop, and even get a makeover!
One takeaway for me from the Walgreens Flagship Store opening is that these “flagship” stores are designed to complement the communities surrounding the stores. The Walgreens vision is that “My Walgreens” will be available for everyone in the U.S. and beyond as the first choice for health and daily living. Walgreens wants to help people get, stay, and live well. The Washington, D.C., Walgreens Flagship Store is similar to other locations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York, and Puerto Rico. To find out more about Walgreens and the Washington D.C. Flagship Store, visit walgreens.com.
I was invited to the Walgreens Flagship Store tour and opening reception. I was compensated to write a post and create a Google+ slideshow. The views expressed in this post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.
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