Charles r walgreens sr biography for kids

His son, Charles Jr. Charles Jr. That tradition of fathers working with their children at Walgreens continues today, years after its beginning. Meet some of the dads and their children who currently work together:. My kids and I have never worked in the same store, but we did have the privilege of briefly working together for about three months several years ago when I was on a special assignment as a district manager in the store where Tabitha was the pharmacist and Nolan was a customer service associate.

It allowed me to see my kids as adult professionals up close for the first time. Inhe opened a second store in and by owned nine drug stores, which he incorporated as Walgreen Co. Walgreens was one of the first chains to carry non-pharmaceuticals as a mainstay of the store's retail selection. Walgreens offered low-priced lunch counters, built its own ice cream factory, and introduced the malted milk shake in ByWalgreen had established stores.

His son Charles Rudolph Walgreen Jr. March 4, — February 10, and grandson Charles R. Walgreen III both shared his name and played prominent roles in the company he founded. His daughter, Ruth Walgreen, married Justin Whitlock Dartwho left the Walgreens company after they divorced and went on to control the rival Rexall Drug Stores in He is a member of the Labor Hall of Fame.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Byhe already had four stores and seven years later, he would grow this by another 16 stores.

Charles r walgreens sr biography for kids: Charles Rudolph Walgreen (October 9,

Charles Walgreen kept on expanding his business and byhis company was operating stores. Charles Walgreen was born in Galesburg, Illinois. He entered the Dixon Business College when he was 16 and got a job in a bookkeeping office. Walgreen neither liked the work nor the pay so he quit and took another job. He worked in a shoe factory and had an accident — his middle finger was cut off.

Because of this, his doctor advised him to look for another job. And Walgreen's next innovations took place in the soda fountain — where milkshakes had long been a staple of American drugstores. The year was Walgreens now had two stores. His challenge is finding ever-new ways of satisfying a growing customer base while outshining his competitors.

ByWalgreens stores reachedincluding locations in New York City, Florida, and other major markets.

Charles r walgreens sr biography for kids: Read the story of Charles R.

Many factors contributed to this unprecedented growth: a superb management team, modern merchandising, innovative store design, fair pricing, outstanding customer service, and exceedingly high pharmacy quality and service. Yet, one can't overlook something that may have seemed a minor innovation at the time. The invention of Walgreens immortal malted milkshake inan instant classic, by Ivar "Pop" Coulson, the backbone of the Walgreens soda fountain since Coulson had always been eager to improve on whatever he and his fountain clerks had to offer, and he made generous use of Walgreens extra-rich ice cream, manufactured in Walgreen's own plant on East 40th Street in Chicago.

Until then, malted milk drinks were made by mixing milk, chocolate syrup, and a spoonful of malt powder in a metal Walgreens employees working at soda fountain container, then pouring the mixture into a glass. One sweltering summer day, Coulson set off his revolution. He added a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream to the basic mix, then added another scoop.

Walgreens Customers at the Soda Fountain Response could not have been more substantial if Coulson had found a cure for the common cold! His luscious creation was adopted by fountain managers in every Walgreens store. It was written in newspapers and talked about in every city with a Walgreens. But most of all, it was the object of much adoration.

It was common to see long lines outside Walgreens stores, and customers stood three or four feet deep at the fountain waiting for the new drink. Suddenly, "Meet me at Walgreens for a shake and a sandwich" became bywords as popular as "Meet me under the Marshall Fields clock" at State and Randolph in Chicago. So, once again, Charles Walgreen's prediction that his soda fountain would be essential to his stores as a source of revenue, company growth, and increased customer satisfaction which translated into even higher levels of customer loyalty and patronage came true.

In its own way, Coulson's malted fueled Walgreen's dramatic growth. During prohibitiondrug stores could legally sell alcohol. It was one of many ways that people could get legal alcohol. Over the years, he worked at various drugstores while studying pharmacy at night. It worked eventually. Surviving and Conquering the Great Depression.

ByWalgreens had over stores and quickly became the nation's most prominent drugstore chain. And while Walgreens was no more immune to the dire effects of a shrinking economy than other American businesses, it persevered. Walgreens continued to develop new, meaningful ways to serve customers and — just as importantly — employ thousands of people during this period of extreme economic distress.

As a testament to Walgreens continuing quality and stability, its stock having become a publicly traded corporation in continued to increase in price. Throughout this period, Walgreens continued to innovate. It had already become convinced of the value of advertising and remained one of the biggest newspaper advertisers in Chicago and other parts of the country.

Charles r walgreens sr biography for kids: From the time Charles R.

Perhaps even more significant was Walgreen's entry into broadcast advertising. Also, inWalgreens became the first drugstore chain in the country to advertise on the radio, with legendary Chicago Cubs announcer Bob Elson as the "voice" of Walgreens. As a result, Walgreens saw consistent sales growth during the Depression years. The building also housed Walgreens ever-growing research and manufacturing laboratory and served as additional manufacturing space for its tremendously popular candy line.

Major philanthropy also became an essential corporate mission during this time. Walgreen Foundation for the Study of American Institutions. Yet injust as the company emerged victorious during the great Charles Walgreen challenge, Charles Walgreen died at 66 years old.