biography
| name: |
Walgreen, Charles R(udolph)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1873–1939)
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| biography:
| Drugstore chain owner, born near Galesburg, Illinois, USA. An accident in a shoe factory led to the loss of part of a finger on his left hand, and the doctor who treated him pursuaded him to become a druggist's apprentice. In 1893 he went to Chicago and became a registered pharmacist (1897), and then fought in the Spanish-American War. He returned to Chicago and worked as a pharmacist for chemist Issac W Blood, whom he bought out in 1902 when Blood retired. He acquired his second store in 1909 and organized C R Walgreen & Co. In 1916 the name was changed to Walgreen Co, with seven stores. His store innovations included lunch counters that had soda fountains, and he is credited with introducing ‘malted milk’. A talented retailer, he continued to manufacture some of his drugs to keep prices competitive and quality high, and by 1939 his company was manufacturing 25 000 different articles. In 1927 he had expanded to 110 stores. He established the Charles R Walgreen Foundation for the Study of American Institutions at the University of Chicago (1937). |
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