Walgreens Celebrates Its First Store in the District of Columbia

Deerfield, Ill., March 6, 2008 – Walgreens (NYSE, NASDAQ: WAG), the nation’s largest drugstore chain, is hosting a special ceremony today to mark the opening of its first store in Washington, D.C. at the corner of 22nd and M streets near Georgetown. This is an important milestone for the company -- with the opening of this new 24-hour store, Walgreens now serves residents of every major metropolitan area in the country.

A ceremonial ribbon cutting hosted by Walgreens senior vice president of pharmacy services, Kermit Crawford, RPh., will begin at 10 a.m. Mayor Adrian Fenty and many other public officials and community leaders will be in attendance for the ceremony followed by a first-hand demonstration of Walgreens pharmacy services backed by the most advanced technology in the industry.

The new store represents a significant landmark in Walgreens organic growth strategy throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Walgreens plans to open more than a dozen locations in the D.C. area within the next few years along with more than 40 across Virginia and Maryland. The expansion will deliver additional tax revenue and jobs to the region, as well as valuable frontline health professionals.

“In metropolitan D.C., like thousands of other communities, Walgreens will soon become a trusted healthcare resource,” said Crawford. “With many communities here growing, so are their needs for quality pharmacy services. Patients and caregivers depend on us, not just for convenient access to medications, but for information and guidance and that can improve the quality of their lives.”

Guests for the grand opening event will also be introduced to exclusive products and services available at the new Walgreens, including premium coffee and fountain drinks from Café W, printer cartridge refills, DHL shipping services, Walgreens.com photo tools and a host of prestige beauty products including the “European Beauty Collection,” “Yes To Carrots” and the new Chemistry and Sally Hershberger hair care lines.

“We’re excited to be bringing Walgreens to the District,” said store manager Jason McCarthy. “We’ve hired an outstanding staff whose focus will be delivering exceptional customer service to this community. We believe our new customers will appreciate the level of convenience they’ll find in this store. We look forward to creating loyal Walgreens shoppers for life.”

Walgreens is the nation’s largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2007 sales of $53.8 billion. The company operates 6,237 stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico. Walgreens is expanding its patient-first health care services beyond traditional pharmacy through Walgreens Health Services, its managed care division, and Take Care Health Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary that manages146 convenient care clinics at drugstores. Walgreens Health Services assists pharmacy patients and prescription drug and medical plans through Walgreens Health Initiatives Inc. (a pharmacy benefit manager), Walgreens Mail Service Inc., Walgreens Home Care Inc. and Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy LLC. More information about Walgreens is available at Walgreens.com.

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