Walgreens

This rating is entirely a reflection of their pharmacy. Don’t use the pharmacy at this location, they’re terrible. The staff is friendly, but they must be very unorganized. We moved into this neighborhood a year ago and at the time I switched my prescriptions over I was on one insurance plan, which in June of this year was bought by another company, and in July my insurance changed again. To make sense of my issues with this pharmacy, it’ll help to understand that for 30 days out of the last 365 my insurance was BCBS. I have had the same insurance for 6 months now yet almost every time I go to pickup my monthly prescription I am told my insurance is expired — because despite the fact I have updated my information they still have it listed under BCBS. Usually they’re able to find their mistake after making me make 2 or 3 trips to pick up my prescriptions, and then telling me there’s an error. Apparently they’ve never heard of a phone. My most recent experience was the last straw. I was told my prescriptions weren’t ready even though I had received a notification that they were, so upon my return I am then told my insurance is invalid (once again), and am then told that I have not used them to fill a prescription since June (when my insurance was BCBS) except that fact that every month since December 2013 I have gone to this same Walgreens to fill all my prescriptions. If a place can’t even keep track of my history of prescriptions I’d say I’m better off having them filled elsewhere.

AH, October… I just received an overnight shipment of frozen bratwurst from family in Wisconsin. If you have never tried the real thing, you haven’t lived. There are two kinds, White and red. The white ones are really gray, and have a delicate flavor, the red ones are more like the ones that you get in the Johnsonville package, with one notable exception… They taste good.
WAIT-​A-​HOLDIT? you might say… What on gods green earth does that have to do with Walgreen’s? Well, just hold your horses, and I’ll explain. One of the crucial steps in preparation of REAL bratwurst is «getting the pot right». The pot starts with two big muther onions, coarsely chopped, and wilted in a heavy 6 quart pot. The point is to caramelize the onions and leave them sweet and transparent. Then you add 4 quarts of beer, and bring it to a simmer. It really doesn’t make much sense to use good beer, typically, you use cheep stuff, and save the good stuff for drinking (with the brats). Have I lost you yet? This is where Walgreen’s comes in… They have a cheep (but drinkable — if you live in a frat house) beer called Big Flats. Big Flats has the distinction of being the Thunderbird of beer — Just $ 3.00 a six pack. Perfect for this project.
OK, i need at least 2 six packs and 2 six packs of something else to drink. There they are, in a glorious stack — Big Flats, and Big Flats Light. I am a light beer drinker, and might want a flat of Big Flats Light in the bomb shelter for surviving the apocalypse, but we needed full bore stuff for the brats. No price tag? HMMM (I said)… So I asked the clerk — I don’t see a price on the Big Flats, how much are they? $ 2.99 with a rewards card, and $ 3.99 otherwise… Then it dawned on me, they aren’t selling beer, they are selling client data, kinda like Facebook, Google and the NSA…
I whipped out my trusty beer calculator, and ran it through the algorithm…
Thats 66.5c a can… That would make a 30 pack $ 19.95.
The going price of a 30 pack of «name-​brand beer» is $ 18.99
My privacy is worth 16.667c a can — for barely drinkable beer. I think not! Harumph…
I’ll just buy the good stuff — better yet, I’ll go across the parking lot and buy it at «the cigar store Indian», which is exactly what I did…

Just thinking about all of the cash our family collectively drops on this outlet is a little overwhelming. From a local shopper’s perspective, the task of flipping America’s shopping habits from franchise to homegrown looks, at the outset, nearly impossible. And it is. Even if there was a little nooky store for every little item we needed in the neighborhood, the convenience of Walgreens and their brethren would (nearly) always send me to these aisles. From printer paper to tampons, baby medicine and beer, duct tape to deodorant, you can’t beat the convenience of these marts.
That said, the experience could definitely be better. In my own way I’ve come to know the salespeople at this outlet, I love that they smile, ask me how I am, and honestly tell me how their day is going. I do like these people and you can expect very good customer service.
The store itself is a little tricky. It can be difficult to locate your medicine or special item, and often it’s tough to find help finding it. The neighborhood attracts its share of the sketchy element, which translates to an air of caution at all times.
If I were reading this, I’d want to know about the beer selection. Average or below is my report. They try to stock a fair selection of local brews, but when holidays approach or they have some deal with a national brand, the local stuff will be shelved in storage. That’s a shame, because they could cater to snobs like me, who would in turn drops many more wads of cash, but I usually find myself going somewhere else. In truth, this outlet caters to their most loyal customers, people who buy the cheap stuff in massive quantities.
Fair enough, but not loyal about locals.