A Walgreens Like You’ve Never Seen

Ok, well, unless you’ve been to one of the other flagship stores, you’ve never seen a Walgreens like the one I went to this past week. I hadn’t done any research about what a flagship was, although Fred did, and even though he read to me what it was, I honestly didn’t grasp what I was about to experience.

I headed into Washington D.C. to check out this new Walgreens. I mean, c’mon, it’s a Walgreens. We’ve all been in them. We know what they look like. lol Oh boy, I was about to totally be surprised.

First it’s a 3 story Walgreens. That should tell you right there that it’s different. When you first walk in, there’s a small ramp you go up and it looks somewhat like a health deli. Actually, the middle floor had SO many people walking around it I feel like I have to go back to get a good grasp as to what’s on that floor. I’ll get back to this floor in a minute.

Our story actually begins on the 3rd floor. The Look Boutique. When I got to the third floor, I felt like I heard angels singing. It was so beautiful. It gave me the sense that I had just entered a department store beauty section. I honestly didn’t feel like I was in Walgreens anymore.

They have a nail salon that you can just walk up to without an appointment! And the price…$12! How amazing is that?! As a single mom, that is SO doable. I felt like I was wide eyed walking through all of the make-up selections. They had lines I’d never heard of before.

This Gosh Cosmetics line is from Europe and is exclusive to Walgreens and DuaneReade! How about a mascara with a light inside the wand? The colors are definitely fun!

While we were waiting to talk with Marcia, I actually didn’t know she was one of the women who had passed me while we were waiting by the nail bar. There was a lady with her who looked extremely familiar, but I had no idea why. I just blew it off to the woman having a familiar face.

Turns out that woman was Vera Moore. She used to star on Another World, a soap opera I used to watch when I was a kid. I KNEW I recognized her! We had a chance to talk with her and her daughter who created a make-up line perfect for any skin color.

We walked around with Marsha as she shared about the different make-up lines and how she chooses who will be in the stores. Some are obviously familiar lines, but others, she sees the potential in and brings them on board.

One of the things that has really sold me on the Look Boutique is that all of the people who work there have been trained by all of the lines.They aren’t there to promote a certain brand. They find out what your needs are and then work with you to get you what you want. I also like that they won’t hover, waiting for a sale! I’m sorry, but it drives me crazy when they do! I’m one of those people who, if I need help, I’ll ask.

I do my best to take care of my eyebrows, but I could use some better tips for plucking. How nice to go Walgreens and have them taken care of for me! I had never heard of this line before, but it’s a make-up line to the stars! Their goal is to have people say “she is beautiful” not “your make-up is beautiful”. (Thanks Fred for remembering!)

Our group then headed down to the main level where you walk into the store. Again, you would hardly believe you’re in a Walgreens. They have healthy on their mind, and the evidence is everywhere.

You can purchase fresh fruit and they have an amazing juice/smoothie bar and, having sampled them, wow, very delicious! We were treated to much of the food and beverages they have available. Trust, me, this is absolutely one-stop shopping.

Unfortunately, or maybe for my waistline fortunately, I didn’t have one of their gourmet cupcakes, but I certainly wanted to try one. Man, they looked delicious!

Look at all of this amazing fresh fruit. They also have an entire cooler of fresh food!

Next we headed down to the lower level where the Take Care Clinic is located and where you’d find most of your pharmacy products. This is amazing and I haven’t seen anything like it in any other Walgreens.

We got a fabulous tour of their cutting edge technology that gave us a better idea of how streamlined the entire Clinic is. When you get to the pharmacy, you won’t see any medication behind the counters. That’s not the impression they want you to start off with. They want the focus to be on the care of the people.

With how they have the Take Care Clinic set up they’re seeing a 4-8x increase in patients interacting with pharmacists. With their studies, they found 1/3 of the pharmacist’s time doing technician duties.

The Clinic has Board Certified Family Nurse Practioners. The can see patients and access them. If someone needs lab work done they can send people to get them done and there in the Clinic they can do a wide variety of procedures. One of the things I liked the most about the Clinic is their “truth in advertising”. There are no hidden costs! The visit cost, any procedures, etc are all listed for everyone to see!

They have a nice couple of rooms to do procedures in and a private consultation room to speak to a pharmacist.They have point-of-care testing which means they can do quick strep and mono tests right there!

I left this Walgreens feeling like I had just found my new favorite pharmacy. Sure, I’d have to drive an hour to get there, but having experienced it, know that it would totally be worth the drive!

Oh, and least I forget, I wanted to thank Fred who showed up and stood around for a very long time while I took a tour and talked with people from Walgreens and didn’t have one complaint at his utter boredom waiting for me. You rock honey! And yes, he totally photo bombed my camera when I wasn’t paying attention! =) This is what he gets for bombing. ha!

Be sure to connect with Walgreens via Facebook, Twitter and Google+!

I also have an entire photo selection (even more than here) in Google+! You'll be able to see more of this awesome day there!

* I was invited to the opening of the Walgreens store opening by Collective Bias. I was compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and Walgreens #cbias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own.