SPECIAL FEATURE
Familiarity Leads to Success for
Walgreens’ Greg Wasson
By Mark Hendricks
Gregory D. Wasson
(left) President
and CEO with Alan
G. McNally, 2011
Chairman of the
Board.
F
or the last three decades, there have
been two common threads running through Greg Wasson’s life:
his alma mater, Purdue University, and
Walgreens, the company for which he
serves as President and CEO.
Wasson will bring those threads
with him to Palm Beach, Florida, in
April when he embarks upon a year-long
journey as the Chairman of the National
Association of Chain Drug Stores.
Wasson’s black and gold Purdue
thread was spun during his early years in
Lafayette, a rural Indiana town located
near the university and the place where
Wasson was born and raised. Not surprisingly, he received his bachelor’s degree in
pharmacy from Purdue in 1981.
“I never really expected to do anything
else but go to Purdue,” Wasson says. “It was
so close that it was always in the cards.”
Wasson’s father was a salesman by
trade and primarily sold home improvements such as roofing, siding and insulation. He also was known to do some
“horse-trading” on the side.
“One time he did a little bartering
and ended up acquiring a piece of land
near Lake Freeman in northern Indiana,”
Wasson recalls. “The land was part
woods and part farmland. He traded the
farmland to a local farmer for some more
12 HealthCare Distributor  April/May 2012
This Walgreens drugstore in Cornelius, North Carolina, is one of
292 new drugstores the company opened in fiscal 2010.
land with woods the farmer didn’t want
and then he turned it into a campground.
In my younger years I was either working with him at the campground or I
was working with the local farmer who
farmed most of the land around where we
lived, so I kept myself busy.”
The summer before he graduated from
Purdue, a pharmacy management professor
asked Wasson if he would be interested in
participating in a corporate internship program started a year earlier by Walgreens.
Wasson accepted the offer and
spent his summer learning the drugstore
business from Bill Hatfield, a Purdue
grad and a pharmacist who had become
friends with Wasson’s professor. By the
time the internship ended, Wasson was so
intrigued with Walgreens that he didn’t
interview for a job with anyone else.
It was also at Purdue where Wasson
got to know a young lady named Kim,
another aspiring pharmacist. They were
married after graduation and have been
together for the last 30 years.
When Wasson graduated from
Purdue and joined Walgreens, Hatfield
advised him to move to Houston, Texas,
if his interest in pursuing a management
position with Walgreens was genuine.
“The reason was that Walgreens had
just acquired the Super X chain stores
in Houston. At the time, I think the
Walgreen Co. had only about 750 to 800
stores total and 25 or 30 were in Houston.
Because this was a 25-store acquisition,
it would double our size in Houston, so I
said why not.”
The newlyweds rented a U-Haul
truck, loaded up their only car and moved
to the Lone Star State.
“We got an apartment and we
both started working for the company,”
Wasson says. “It was a good move because I became a store manager about
three months after we moved — even before I knew all the items we carried.”
Prior to the move, Kim had enrolled
in Purdue’s newly founded PharmD
program, but traded in her textbooks to
marry Wasson and move to Houston. She
went on to work for Walgreens for 17
years as a pharmacist and store manager.
She retired from the company to raise the
couple’s two daughters: Lindsay, a Purdue
grad who is married and lives in Ohio;
and Courtney, who is attending veterinary
school at — surprise, surprise — Purdue.
Kim eventually returned to school and
received her PharmD in 2003 from
Midwestern University.
Wasson would eventually manage
four stores in Houston until 1987, when
he was promoted to district manager
Photos courtesy Walgreens
and transferred to Milwaukee. In 1989,
he moved again, this time to manage
Walgreens’ Boston district where he
helped open up the company’s Rhode
Island and Philadelphia-area markets.
In 1996, he moved west to open the Las
Vegas, Nevada, market before making the move to his present location at
Walgreens’ Deerfield, Illinois, headquarters near Chicago.
Positive Influences
Making the climb from staff pharmacist to President and CEO is certainly
a testament to Wasson’s determination,
business savvy and good fortune. Along
the way, he says he also benefited from
the good advice and work habits displayed by others.
“My biggest influence is my dad,”
Wasson says without hesitation. “Growing
up in Indiana, he taught us how to work
hard and how to stay humble. And it’s
interesting: even though he wasn’t college
educated, he started that campground
from scratch and it was really my first
experience with business. He always said
you’ve got to find something somebody
wants, give it a good price and then deliver good service. And that’s the key to
business. It’s pretty simple, but really it’s
at the core of it.”
Wasson also credits several people
from his career at Walgreens with providing positive influences, including Hatfield,
who is now retired. Wasson says they still
keep in touch and he will always consider
Hatfield to be a mentor.
He says he also had a few bosses
over the years that were pivotal to some
of the opportunities that came his way.
“One of those was my first district manager, Ed Williams, who was a
very good boss,” Wasson says. “I really
learned the retail business under Ed.
“I also should mention a guy by the
name of Jerry Karlin. At the time I interned with Bill Hatfield, Jerry was the
director of pharmacy services, the head of
our department.”
Karlin eventually assumed responsibility for all Walgreen store operations nationwide and always kept tabs
Wasson addresses more than 2,500 shareholders at Walgreen Co.’s annual meeting in
January 2012.
on Wasson.
“One of my biggest opportunities
was when he asked me to go out and open
the Las Vegas market,” Wasson explains.
“We had no stores there and it ended up
being a great opportunity. From there, I
came into the corporate office and moved
up the chain of command.”
As the quintessential company man,
Wasson is cognizant of Walgreens’ position as an industry leader and the important role it plays in keeping community
pharmacy vibrant and relevant.
“I think we, as a company, have been
fortunate to do that over the years, to help
influence the industry and keep it strong
and growing,” Wasson says. “That’s what
we’re trying to do today as well.”
Wasson says there’s a thread of innovation that runs through the company,
going back to its earliest days as a onestore operation in 1901. For example, he
pointed out:
■ In 1922, Walgreens invented the
chocolate malted milkshake and served
them to customers at its in-store soda
fountains.
■ From the early 1940s until the
1980s, the company operated a 6,000
square-foot nonprofit drugstore in the
Pentagon. All proceeds from the store
went to the Pentagon Post Restaurant
Council.
■ By 1953, Walgreens was the largest self-service retailer in the country, and
in 1968, years before it was required by
law, the company became the first major
drug chain to use child-resistant containers for its prescriptions.
■ In the early 1990s, the company
installed point-of-sale scanning to speed
customer checkout and opened its first
stores with drive-thru pharmacies.
■ In 2002, Walgreens became the first
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April/May 2012  HealthCare Distributor 13
SPECIAL FEATURE
chain to offer prescription labels in multiple languages. Labels are now available
in 14 languages: Arabic, Chinese, French,
German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish,
Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog,
Vietnamese and English.
Walgreens also employs a computer
system known as Intercom Plus to fill
prescriptions. The system links all of the
chain’s 7,800-plus stores into a single network and has made the company the country’s largest private user of satellite technology and the second largest overall behind
only the United States government.
In addition to the company’s eager pursuit and embrace of technology and innovation, Wasson says there is a sense of family
that runs throughout the organization.
“The family culture was started at
the very beginning by Charles Walgreen,
Sr., and was continued during the first 90
to 100 years when the company was run
by a Walgreen family member. Although
a Walgreen no longer leads, that culture
still exists today and is beneficial to the
company,” Wasson explains.
As the fourth non-Walgreen family
member to run the company since 1999,
Wasson says he has many responsibilities such as setting company strategy,
managing the execution of that strategy
and developing leaders who can carry the
Nearly 8,000 walkers throughout Florida
helped kick off the “Walk with Walgreens”
campaign for customers in April 2011. This
was one of several Walk events coordinated
by Walgreen community leaders across the
country. Walk with Walgreens is dedicated to
getting people moving and educating them
about the prevention and early detection of
major conditions like cancer, diabetes and
heart disease.
14 HealthCare Distributor  April/May 2012
company into the future. None of those,
Wasson says, can be accomplished unless
those around him understand their roles.
“Ninety percent of what I do is to
communicate,” Wasson says. “I taught
my daughters to take a lot of communications classes because whatever you do
in life — whether it’s with your spouse
or your family, and certainly as a CEO
of Walgreens — it’s all about communication. I’m the chief communicator
for the Walgreen Co., whether it’s internally or whether it’s externally with
the public or with policy makers. When
I talk to youngsters, that’s exactly what
I do tell them. You have to understand
that strong communication is a big part
of what we all do.”
In this private and sterile environment of the
Walgreens specialty pharmacy in Carnegie,
Pa., a pharmacy technician prepares
medication and supplies for patients with
complex diseases and conditions, such as
multiple sclerosis, growth hormone deficiency
and infertility.
NACDS Involvement
Wasson has been involved with
NACDS for nearly seven years. He sits on
the Executive Committee, and has been a
member of the Board of Directors since
2007. He has taken the traditional path to
becoming Board Chairman by first serving a year as Treasurer and a year as Vice
Chairman. He believes NACDS truly reflects the desire and the intent of its board
members and their businesses in trying to
drive and influence the profession.
“In my time, I’ve seen that the association under Steve Anderson’s leadership has
done a terrific job in bringing focus to key
issues that help the industry; and that the
board has been effective in helping Steve
and his team set the strategy,” Wasson
maintains. “A real plus for the NACDS
chairman is that the association’s strategy is
that of the board’s and it’s up to Steve and
his team to execute it. With that said, I think
most of us are aligned with the association
within our own businesses. Our strategy
absolutely is to advance the role community
pharmacy plays in healthcare; NACDS
certainly advances that theme, so on that we
are aligned.”
Wasson says there are two areas he
will continue to focus upon during his year
as chairman. The first is working to ensure
that community pharmacy receives fair reimbursement for the services it provides and
for its value to patient healthcare.
“Whether it’s government reimbursement or private sector reimbursement,
that’s the immediate focus of the association,” Wasson emphasizes. “I think
community pharmacy absolutely delivers
value and needs to be recognized and reimbursed for that value.”
Wasson believes the second focus
area for NACDS should be helping to advance the role that community pharmacy
plays as the pharmaceutical industry
moves towards providing new and innovative services such as immunizations
and vaccinations.
“I’d like to think that Walgreens is
one of the early leaders in those areas,
but I think the entire industry has now
stepped up and basically jumped into
providing those services in a big way,”
Wasson says. “I think the nation is seeing
that the access community pharmacy provides to services like immunizations and
vaccines are a good thing.”
Wasson says medication therapy
management, or MTM, will play a key
role in increasing the role of community
pharmacy and the reimbursement the industry receives for those roles.
“The way I bucket all of this is to say
Bucket A is reimbursement, and Bucket
B is advancing the role community pharmacy can play and MTM is a big part of
that,” Wasson explains. “We’re getting
community pharmacists to really play a
greater role in helping patients take their
medications properly, and they need to
be reimbursed for the value that role
brings as a result. I’ve seen that there are
probably $300 billion in annual wasted
costs due to folks not taking medications
properly or staying compliant. MTM addresses that.”
Some people might consider serving
a year as chairman for an organization
like NACDS to be a distraction from their
company. Wasson disagrees and says he is
looking forward to his term.
“I go back to what I said earlier: my
role is communicating, communicating
and communicating,” Wasson says. “I
think being the chief communicator for
Walgreens and the chief communicator
for NACDS go hand-in-hand since all
drug stores share many common issues
and concerns. I think it’s an opportunity
rather than a challenge.”
Like other chairmen who have gone
before him, Wasson’s involvement with
the industry and NACDS won’t decline
after his term ends. He admires the consistent involvement his fellow NACDS
board members have demonstrated under
Anderson’s leadership.
“I tease Bob Loeffler about being such
a good chairman this past year and that
maybe he would want to stay on an additional year,” Wasson says with a laugh. “But
seriously, I think the industry has really
come together and understands there’s a real
opportunity for us all to step up and play a
much greater role — whether it’s Walgreens
or Rite Aid or a regional chain.”
When he takes time away from the
office and boardroom, Wasson says he’s
never been someone who tries to squeeze in
activities like golf or tennis. He prefers to
spend time near the water with his family
skiing, tubing, swimming and fishing.
“We have a place on a lake in southern Indiana that the girls think of as
home,” Wasson reflects. “When we were
moving all over the country, water activities really became their passion.”
The balance between spending time
with family and staying involved with
business interests is something Wasson
expects to continue for years to come and
on into retirement.
“I think my wife would say, ‘you
can’t retire completely or you’ll drive
me nuts,’” Wasson jokes. “But I want to
strike a balance and make sure I’m able
to spend time with my kids and Kim and
also stay active, whether it’s on future
boards or some other opportunity.”
As for the impression he will leave
behind when he does decide to move on to
the next stage in life, Wasson says he wants
people to remember him as someone truly
passionate about Walgreens and who got up
every morning thinking about how he could
help improve the livelihoods of 250,000
employees, both economically and in how
they enjoyed their jobs.
“You know, when it’s all said and
done, we could have the greatest locations
in the country and the greatest technology, but it really comes down to having the right people and the right talent
within the organization,” Wasson muses.
“Fortunately throughout my years, I’ve
been able to surround myself with good
people and hopefully I’ve been able to
help them develop and to help them advance in the company as well.”
Walgreen Co.’s 2011 Board of Directors. Pictured back row, left to right: William C. Foote,
Chairman of the Board, USG Corporation; Nancy M. Schlichting, President and CEO, Henry
Ford Health System; Alejandro Silva, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Evans Food Group, Inc;
Steven A. Davis, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Bob Evans Farms, Inc.; Mark P. Frissora,
Chairman of the Board and CEO, Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. and The Hertz Corporation; and
Alan G. McNally, Chairman of the Board, Walgreen Co. and Special Advisor, BMO Financial
Corporation.
Front Row, left to right: David Y. Schwartz, Former Partner, Arthur Andersen LLP; David
J. Brailer, MD, PhD, Chairman, Health Evolution Partners; Gregory D. Wasson, President and
CEO, Walgreen Co.; James A. Skinner, Vice Chairman and CEO, McDonald’s Corporation; and
Ginger L. Graham. President and CEO, Two Trees Consulting, Inc.
Sponsored by
April/May 2012  HealthCare Distributor 15
SPECIAL FEATURE
H
Walgreens: America’s Premier Pharmacy
ow did a neighborhood drugstore, founded in 1901 and
measuring just 50 feet by 20
feet, become the pharmacy all others
are measured by and one of the most respected American corporations today?
It all started with Charles R. Walgreen
Sr. in Dixon, Illinois.
Walgreen Sr. was born near
Galesburg, Illinois. The family later
relocated to Dixon, — a town 60 miles
north of his birthplace. It was here that
Walgreen, at the age of 16, had his first
experience working in a drugstore, though
it was far from a positive one. Working at
Horton’s Drugstore (for $4 a week) was a
job he took only because of an accident
that left him unable to take part in sports.
While working in a local shoe factory,
Walgreen accidentally cut off the top joint
of his middle finger, ending his athletic
competition. Were it not for the accident,
Walgreen might never have become a
pharmacist, business owner and phenomenally successful entrepreneur. Ironically,
his initial experience working at Horton’s
Walgreens is piloting a new store experience
that moves beyond the traditional
drugstore format to a health and daily living
destination. At the core is the health center
(shown here) that includes a redesigned
pharmacy and, at some locations, a Take
Care Clinic. In this area, patients are greeted
by a health guide (right) who directs them
to the services they need. The new format
is being piloted at this store in Oak Park,
Illinois, and other stores in Illinois, Indiana
and New York City.
16 HealthCare Distributor  April/May 2012
Two strong drugstore brands came together when Walgreens made the largest acquisition in
its history, purchasing 258 Duane Reade stores in the New York City metropolitan area in April
2010. Beyond establishing Walgreens as a leader in the nation’s largest drugstore market,
the acquisition has allowed both companies to benefit from the other’s expertise. Walgreens’
111 years of experience as the most convenient provider of pharmacy, health and wellness
services in the country has strengthened the healthcare services Duane Reade provides in its
stores. Pictured is a Duane Reade store in New York City.
was itself a failure. Walgreen left after
just a year and a half on the job — realizing that his future lay not in Dixon, but
in a far larger city — Chicago.
Chicago in 1893 — the year of
Walgreen’s arrival — was far from promising for a future drugstore entrepreneur.
More than 1,500 drugstores already
competed for business (many exceedingly
successful).
In a series of jobs with Chicago’s
leading pharmacists, Walgreen grew increasingly knowledgeable — and increasingly dissatisfied — with what he saw as
old-fashioned, complacent methods of
running a drugstore.
In 1901 Walgreen decided to open
his own pharmacy — and as they say —
the rest is history!
About the Author
Mark Hendricks
earned his
journalism degree
from West Texas
State University
and has spent
22 years as a communicator and
writer for private industry, nonprofit organizations and academic/
research institutions. He also works
as a freelance writer; his stories and
articles have been published by a
variety of newspapers, magazines
and trade publications.
The following is a synopsis of important events in Walgreens history.
1901 Charles R. Walgreen Sr. purchased the Chicago drugstore
where he had worked as a pharmacist — and that started
the Walgreen chain.
1909 The second Walgreen store opened.
1916 Nine stores incorporated as Walgreen Co.
1926 The 100th store opened in Chicago.
1927 Walgreen Co. stock went public.
1933 Walgreens helped celebrate Chicago’s World Fair. The
company opened four stores on the Century of Progress
fairgrounds. These stores experimented with advanced
fixture design, new lighting techniques and colors —
ideas that helped modernize drugstore layout and design.
1939 Charles Walgreen Sr. died and Charles Walgreen Jr.
became the company’s president.
1946 Walgreens acquired its first foreign property with the
purchase of Mexican retailer Sanborn’s. In 1984, the
company sold Sanborn’s.
1950 Walgreens began to build self-service instead of clerk
service stores in the Midwest.
1960 W
algreens entered the Puerto Rico market. Walgreens
filled its 100 millionth prescription, far more than any
drug chain at that time.
1969 Charles Walgreen III became the company’s president.
1975 Walgreens reached $1 billion in sales.
1981 The first Intercom computers were installed in five
Walgreen pharmacies in Des Moines, Iowa.
1984 Walgreens opened its 1,000th store.
1991 The chain completed installation of point-of-sale
scanning.
1992 W
algreens opened its first drugstore with a drive-thru
pharmacy.
1994 The 2,000th store opened in Cleveland.
1997 I ntercom Plus, Walgreens advanced computer system,
completed rollout to all stores.
1999 Walgreens.com was launched. Charles Walgreen III
retired; L. Daniel Jorndt becomes the first non-Walgreen
named as Chairman.
2000 Walgreens reached the 3,000-store mark.
2001 Walgreens celebrated its centennial year.
2003 Walgreens reached the 4,000-store mark.
2005 Walgreens opened its 5,000th store.
2006 Walgreens acquired Happy Harry’s drugstore chain,
adding 76 stores, primarily in Delaware. Walgreens
began offering in-store health clinics, called Health
Corner Clinics.
2007 W
algreens acquired Take Care Health Systems and
Option Care. Opened its first store in Hawaii in Honolulu
and celebrated the opening of its 6,000th store in New
Orleans.
2009 Walgreens opened its 7,000th store.
2010 W
algreens acquired the Duane Reade drugstore chain in
New York City, the company’s largest acquisition in its
history.
2011 W
algreens expands its multi-channel retail offering by
acquiring drugstore.com. The company also pilots its first
new “Well Experience” format stores.
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April/May 2012  HealthCare Distributor 17
SPECIAL FEATURE
The Incoming NACDS Chairman
at Walgreen Events
Wasson with his wife, Kim, at Walgreens 7,000th store
opening in Brooklyn, N.Y. The couple are enjoying hot dogs
from the legendary Nathan’s Hot Dogs of nearby Coney
Island. Nathan’s provided free hot dogs during the grand
opening event.
During the grand opening celebration of the Walgreens store in Brooklyn, N.Y.,
Wasson poses with store employees.
Wasson visits with a Walgreens pharmacist.
Wasson speaking at the 75th and State Street Walgreens in Chicago in October 2011.
With him are First Lady Michelle Obama and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel who visited the
Walgreens that has been expanded to include produce and other basic grocery staples.
18 HealthCare Distributor  April/May 2012
Photos courtesy Walgreens