Walgreens is pushing deeper into health care, as evidenced by an announcement this week that its primary-care-center subsidiary Village MD will buy Summit Health, the parent company of CityMD urgent-care centers, in a multibillion-dollar deal.
But that doesn't mean Walgreens will allow its core drugstore business to become an afterthought, says Tracey Brown, president of Walgreens' $109 billion retail business and chief customer officer. Drugstores, with their wellness products and ubiquity in the U.S., are instrumental to the company's health care push, says the executive, who oversees a 9,000-store fleet. The chain's reach, she adds, positions it to provide health services beyond its traditional offerings, like strep throat tests, and sell more wellness-focused items, like over-the-counter hearing aids.
