Get the order there, now

It’s part of Walgreens’ corporate lore that when founder Charles R. Walgreen, Sr. took a telephone order from a customer in his South Side Chicago neighborhood, he’d repeat the customer’s name, address and order so his associate, Caleb Danner, could fill the order while he talked to the customer. He’d try to prolong the conversation long enough that Danner could deliver the order while Walgreen was still on the line. Customers soon spread the word about Walgreen’s service.

Walgreen recognized some of those first customers lived too far from his pharmacy on Chicago’s South Side to receive instant service, but the perceived fast response was winning Walgreen’s fledgling pharmacy a reputation for customer service.

Today, each of the retailer’s 12 distribution centers serves 500 to 700 stores, providing weekly or more frequent deliveries. Walgreens’ private fleet driver may not arrive before the store has finished ordering, but its DC will fill orders at an item, case or pallet level, maintaining some of Charles Walgreen’s spirit of service that started 100 years ago.

November, 2003

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