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RICH LESPERANCE: How we balance the need to scale
nationally while maintaining a local presence is one of the
greatest opportunities that we have. And we haven't figured
it all out yet, but we're certainly
thinking a lot about it.
There's so many applications.
Just in the last three months, you think about how much has
changed with opportunities for geofencing or for working with
social apps that let you get points or get offers
for where you go.
It's just really amazing.
So we're continuing to innovate and experiment.
But ultimately, we will bridge to what Walgreens has been
known for for ages, which is great local store experiences.
We have tailored merchandise.
If you go to the New York City Times Square store, you'll see
plastic Eiffel Towers, and if you go to, as I did a few ago,
the Outer Banks in North Carolina, you'll see beach
towels and buckets for sand.
That's always been something that Walgreens has done great
in the stores.
And one thing that we're really proud of is that
customers say, my Walgreens.
We don't have to convince people to think of their store
as their store, they already do.
So we have this great opportunity, digitally, to
capitalize on that.
Digital will of course play an important role because of the
intersection of mobile and social with online.
And it's really the perfect confluence of those different
forces for Walgreens.
Certainly one reason I love my job is that we have one of the
best store networks in America, 7,500 locations.
We reach 70% of US households within five miles.
So with the ability to now allow people to receive
marketing messages, to engage with our brand socially, with
their friends, and wherever they are, especially near or
in a Walgreens, it's a great opportunity.