Updated at 5:50 p.m. on 7/5/2023 — Walgreens has extended its one-hour delivery promotion through July, citing a positive response to the D.C. area pilot in June.
“We know summer is a busy time for our customers and that they’re looking for easy, quick and convenient solutions,” the company said.
Walgreens said it plans to continue its delivery program, but no determination has been made yet on whether the offer of $10 in rewards credits will be extended after this month.
Earlier: Tomorrow (Friday) will be the last chance Fairfax County residents have to take advantage of Walgreens’ experiment with one-hour home deliveries.
At the beginning of June, the pharmacy company launched a pilot program exclusively in the D.C. region that guarantees deliveries to customers within an hour. They can get $10 towards the Walgreens rewards program to use in the future “if it’s even a minute late,” according to a press release.
Running from June 1-30, the pilot included 22 stores in Fairfax County and over 160 stores across Virginia.
“The stores in the northern Virginia/DC area, part of the broader Mid-Atlantic region, were chosen to test the 1-hour Delivery offering because the region contains a large number of storefronts, and serves a mix of population sizes (urban, suburban, rural), allowing us to test our delivery guarantee in a variety of environments,” a Walgreens representative said by email.
More than 27,000 items are eligible for the service, including over-the-counter medicines, but alcohol and prescription medicine deliveries are exempted.
As previously reported by FFXnow’s sister site, ARLnow, Walgreens does tack on a fee for deliveries that varies depending on the products in the order and the distance traveled.
Walgreens introduced same-day deliveries in December, a service that’s available 24 hours a day and includes prescription medications. It also offers 30-minute pickups for orders of $10 or more.
Like many other retailers, Walgreens has been building up its delivery services over the past few years, partnering with companies like Instacart, DoorDash and Postmates.
Nationwide, demand for contactless delivery and curbside pickup services surged early in the pandemic, providing a lifeline to restaurants and other businesses that had to close their doors. At the same time, the third-party apps that proliferated have faced scrutiny for their high commissions and labor practices, while service fees have increased — even for Amazon, which helped set expectations of free, fast shipping.
A full list of the Fairfax County stores participating in the Walgreens pilot is below: Read More
(Updated at 2:25 p.m. to correct photo) Walgreens in Culmore has officially closed its doors.
The location at 6053 Leesburg Pike closed a little over a month ago, a company representative tells FFXnow.
Prescriptions from the pharmacy were automatically transferred to the CVS Pharmacy at 3401 Charles Street in Baileys Crossroads.
It’s unclear why this specific store was closed, but Walgreens spokesperson Kris Lathan told FFXnow that the company considers “several factors” when deciding to close a location:
As we expand as a leader in healthcare, we are focused on best meeting the needs of patients and customers in communities we serve by creating the right network of stores in the right locations. When faced with the difficult decision to close a particular location, several factors are taken into account, including our existing footprint of stores and dynamics of the local market, and changes in the buying habits of our patients and customers.
With the closure, Walgreens no longer has any locations in Bailey’s Crossroads. The closest store is the one at 6715A Arlington Blvd in West Falls Church.
Fairfax City will soon be down one CVS drugstore.
The retail and pharmacy company will permanently shutter its store in the Courthouse Plaza shopping center at 10390 Willard Way on April 18, a spokesperson confirmed to FFXnow.
CVS Health says the move is a “difficult decision” made as part of a broader plan to focus more on digital health care services announced on Nov. 18, 2021.
“Maintaining access to pharmacy services in the communities we serve is an important factor we consider when making store closure decisions,” Amy Thibault, the lead director of external communications for CVS Pharmacy, said by email. “Other factors include local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density, and ensuring there are other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community.”
The Courthouse Plaza store is one of roughly 900 locations that CVS intends to close by the end of 2024, as it evaluates “changes in population, consumer buying patterns and future health needs,” according to a press release on the new retail strategy.
Starting in spring 2022, the company has been closing about 300 stores a year, including a location in Seven Corners that let its lease expire in October. Thibault says no other stores in Fairfax City or Fairfax County are slated to close this year.
All prescriptions tied to the Courthouse Plaza store will be transferred to the CVS at 10090 Fairfax Blvd, though patients can opt to get their medications filled at another location or with a different pharmacy, according to Thibault.
CVS also provides home deliveries for some prescriptions through its website and mobile app.
Employees at the Courthouse Plaza CVS are being offered “comparable roles within the company,” she said.
“Our teams will continue to provide the community with outstanding service at our nine remaining CVS Pharmacy locations in Fairfax,” Thibault said.
Photo via Google Maps
Walgreens in Reston has officially closed its doors.
The business, located at 2260A Hunters Woods Plaza, had its last day of business on Monday (Feb. 28), a company representative told FFXnow.
“As we continue to execute our strategy to expand Walgreens role as a leader in the delivery of healthcare, we are focused on creating the right network of stores in the right locations to best meet the needs of the communities we serve,” spokesperson Kris Lathan said. “There are a number of factors that we take into consideration when opening and closing locations, including dynamics of the local market and changing buying habits of our customers.”
The company did not comment on the specific decision to close its Reston location on the southeast corner of Hunters Woods Plaza. Currently, the plaza has six vacancies, the largest of which is 8,614-square-feet.
Walgreens has multiple locations in Virginia, including Herndon, Fairfax, Falls Church and Leesburg.
Walgreens directed customers to pick up pending prescription orders at a nearby CVS Pharmacy.
“Prescription files for this location will automatically transfer to other nearby stores,” Lathan said. “Pharmacy patients will receive a letter in the mail providing more information about their prescription records.”
