on spent on health care products each year (Katz-Stone 2). All over the United States drugstores are growing exponentially. This increase has encouraged Walgreens to take on a growth strategy. Walgreens’ strengths lie in the fact that they are able to expand and serve additional customer markets. In the year 2000, Walgreens plans to spend over $1 billion on new and renovated stores, technology, distribution enhancements, and other improvements (Frederick 3). This expansion will increase Walgreens’ store count by 450 stores. Forty-three states will be covered with the addition of three new states in the year 2000. Also, with the addition of 16 new markets the total comes to 56 markets since the year 1991. These markets have the potential to serve 80 percent of the United States customers (Frederick 3). This growth is a good indication that Walgreens plans to profit from the increase in prescription drug sales by expanding into new markets and increasing its accessibility. Expansion of a product line helps keep a company one step ahead of the competition. The innovation of the new on-line pharmacy proves that Walgreens is planning to not only keep up with the new technology, but also use it to keep its standing in the market. For the new Internet pharmacy, Walgreens chose Mayo Clinic as its primary health information provider (Lehbar-Friedman 1). Mayo Clinic provides 100 major health topics to the many customers of Walgreen Company. The new Internet pharmacy is called Walgreens.com. Walgreens.com provides customers with a comprehensive list of key features at one online pharmacy site, including: full prescription service, access to your personal Walgreen prescription history, the ability to print prescription expense records, details on potential drug interactions, health and wellness information from Mayo Clinic Health Information, e-mail reminders, prescription order status checks, drug price information, and...
