Walgreens

Expect to pay a Gold-​Coast mark-​up for almost all items at this Walgreens. I bought an item at this store and on the same day, happened to have been in the suburbs and had to stop in to get a card for a graduation. Just for kicks, I decided to check the price of the item I had purchased earlier that morning at the Gold Coast Walgreeens. My discovery: The same exact item was $ 4 LESS at this suburban Walgreens. I’ve done random price checks between this Walgreens and the CVS down the street and while both stores charge more for items than a Target or certainly Costco, the Walgreens store seems to charge higher prices on average.
Guess that’s what happens when there’s little to no competition.

The main purpose of a pharmacy, I always thought, was to dispense prescriptions. If you get your prescriptions filled at this location you know my complaints already. There is almost always a line to pick up prescriptions here (even on very quiet days) and, when you do get to the front of the line, it is not unusual to find out that they either do not have what you ordered in stock and have to order it or can only give you a partial refill — even when you request the refill in advance. In my opinion, if this Store is so poor at what at least used to be their core business, Walgreens (Pharmacy), they should consider renaming themselves to something like «Walgreens Market» because the pharmacy appears to be just a side business in the current model.

Right across the street from the Waldorf Astoria. Perfect for our 2 night stay since we could drop by and grab waters, red bulls, band aids, etc. Basically anything we needed or may have forgotten for our trip. It really was a life saver when we wanted the random toiletry or drink.

Say what you will about pricing in drugstores but nothing beats them for convenience. So hats off to my Walgreens on North State. They are always friendly and they always manage to have that item my family needs in a seasonal emergency. Yes, if I had more time and planned some of the family outings a little better I could save a few dollars sometimes. But they always have what we need.
And a second set of kudos to their pharmacy. They are always prompt and friendly with all the family prescriptions.

I can’t say enough good things about a pharmacist that I’ve encountered here, I believe her name is Karen. She’s extremely helpful, extremely knowledgeable and extremely kind. Walgreen’s pharmacists have been a trusted resource of mine for many years, I’m glad they’re in the neighborhood.

Wow, look at you Walgreens. Bein’ all fancy.
This is one of the fancier Walgreens that I’ve been to. It has an entire fresh foods section in the middle of the store (grapes, yogurts, etc). It seems like a nice spot to pop in and out when refilling prescriptions, picking up beverages, and you know, just doing drug-​store related stuff.
A-​OK.

Very pleased that they offer fresh fruit right up front. It looked decently fresh too. I would have gotten some, but I was already migrating into the «DECADENT-DANGIT!-I’ve run 4 miles today and I’m eating a scrumptious salted caramel cupcake!» portion of my afternoon.
So I bought some equally decadently named nail polish and went off to paint my nails with «truffled espresso» as well as some buttercream frosting (easy access to «More Cupcakes» on Delaware as well as the red line at Chicago.)

Beware: if you want to buy a curling iron, you’ll have to combat the safety lock to get it off the shelf. It took me 15 minutes and 2 store-​wide pages to finally get an employee to unlock the curling iron for me the other day.
Um…really?

The pharmacy at this Walgreens Drug Store used to be efficient. It is now the worst pharmacy I have ever dealt with. First there is a system which I never dealt with in the past called the «call center». They answer as though you are speaking to the pharmacy in the store. They look up your data and tell you to come in and pick up your script. When I arrived at the pharmacy I was told I needed a new script and I didn’t talk to them I talked to the call center. No apology from this disgruntled, depressed looking blond woman pharmacist. Not her problem. Upon arriving at home I received two texts. One informed me that my script was ready to be picked up. Within minutes another text message said an approval from my doctor for my insurance was required. I called to clarify and got someone else at the call center who took no responsibility and stated only you didn’t talk to me. I’m going to call the corporate office tomorrow but am not expecting an explanation that will help. Right now the store pharmacist insists I need a new script. My answer will be to move the whole famly’s scripts to CVS. State and Walton Walgreen’s Pharmacy «the worst».

A block from my old apartment, this Walgreens location was my go-​to for prescriptions and miscellaneous impulse buys.
Pharmacy staff seem efficient compared to other locations, and they are friendly enough to answer my questions.
Front check-​out staff are also pretty friendly, and the store recently redid their check-​out lanes to include a number of self-​check-​out stations, which I love. I’d love these even more if they worked all the time, but sadly, they do not.
Given its proximity to some touristy things, this shop also has a full aisle dedicated to post cards, Chicago shot glasses, and other crap geared towards tourists.
Its just your typical Walgreens, but it serves a need in the neighborhood.