Walgreens Continues To Leverage Real Estate With New FedEx Deal
Walgreens and FedEx have teamed up to offer pickup and drop-off services at the pharmacy's locations across the nation. Walgreens director of healthcare real estate Robin Kosiek shared with Bisnow how the deal taps into the value of the drugstore chain’s thousands of stores.
Kosiek told us Walgreens is looking for ways to further leverage the value of its real estate. Its stores are in prime neighborhood locations, which offer opportunity for partner businesses to get closer to their customers.
The FedEx program will be rolled out slowly, but Kosiek expects FedEx in every store by the end of Walgreens' fiscal year.
The strategic alliance isn’t the first for Walgreens. Last year the company announced a deal with Prime Therapeutics, the nation’s fourth-largest prescription-by-mail service, allowing Walgreens to tap into Prime’s 22 million members. Walgreens most widely publicized strategic alliance is the merger with Rite Aid. The deal, which is pending a decision from the FTC, would make Walgreens the largest pharmacy in the US with 13,000 stores, even after selling off 850 to Fred's.
A decision regarding Walgreens merger with Rite Aid is expected sometime before February. Be sure to catch up with Kosiek (pictured) and learn about how the merger went down at the healthcare retail panel at Bisnow’s Big South Healthcare Event on March 7.
