You might not know it from the bright lights that illuminate every shelf, the pop music that rings through the aisles, or the chipper "Welcome to Walgreens!" that echoes through the store each and every time the door opens, but Walgreens is not always such a great place. After working for the company for two years at a few different locations, I was exposed to quite a few of the ugly realities of Walgreens, some of which I'll share with you here.
1. Yes, employees can see every single photo you send in to have printed.
It's just a normal day working in the photo center until you notice the photos coming out of the printer are someone's nudes. Think twice about the pictures you have printed at professional photo centers. The employees see all of them.
2. There's a good chance something you buy will be expired.
It's no surprise that some tasks get forgotten amidst the hustle and bustle of retail work. The number one task that would go undone at my Orlando location was pulling expired items from the shelves. It was not at all uncommon to find expired food, cosmetic products, and medical supplies lingering in the store— especially in the refrigerated section. The worst case I encountered? A customer returned a package of Oreo cookies that she realized had expired a year beforehand once she got them home.
3. There is no air conditioning in the stockroom.
This isn't true of all locations, but the location I worked at once I moved to college didn't have air conditioning in the stockroom. In the Florida summers, the temperatures in there easily climbed above 80 degrees. Obviously, that environment is extremely unpleasant for employees, but what do those temperatures mean for customers? Your chocolate bars are likely melting in the stockroom and reforming once they are moved to the sales floor. The plastic drink bottles that are stored in the room are getting pretty hot, which some studies suggest can be dangerous. Not to mention, the employees who are moving products in the stockroom are sweating a lot, which means that most of the things you buy are probably coated in a layer of sweat from someone you don't know.
4. Holiday merchandise is put out early because Walgreens doesn't have the space to store it.
A lot of people complain that holiday merchandise (especially the Christmas stuff) is put out too early. The truth is, we don't put it out months ahead of time to capitalize on holiday cheer— we put it out because we just don't have room in the stockroom to keep it. The sooner the mountains of holiday merchandise we get is out on the floor, the sooner we can clean up and organize the perpetually messy back half of the store.
5. A lot of cosmetic products have been opened before you buy them.
I spent most of my time with Walgreens working in the cosmetic department, where I learned that customers will open and try pretty much every single cosmetic product on the shelf. We didn't have enough time or employees to regularly go through and remove products that had been opened, so there was a good chance customers were going home with make-shift testers. Plus, a lot of shampoos, conditioners, and body washes burst open during the shipping process, but some of them get put on the shelves anyway. If only a small amount of product is spilled, the item is usually cleaned up and set out anyway.
6. Employees pretty much never get holidays off, and they hate you because of that.
You're in the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning when you realize that you ran out of butter and won't be able to make the mashed potatoes— oh no! Thank goodness Walgreens is open, right? You rush out the door, race down the street, grab your butter, and leave with a quick "I'm sorry you have to work today!" to the cashier. Walgreens is open 365 days a year, and because of that, Walgreens employees aren't allowed to request any holidays off. Employees are expected to work 2 of the 3 major winter holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years), and they often end up working all of them. In the entire two years I worked there, the only holiday I had off was Independence Day in 2017, and believe me— I had to beg my manager for it. So why do the employees blame you? It's simple: it is 100% your fault. If you would stop going to Walgreens on holidays, Walgreens would close on holidays.
7. Walgreens won't prosecute shoplifters.
Employees and managers are essentially forbidden from accusing anyone of shoplifting and attempting to recover merchandise. At most, managers usually just "keep an eye on" someone that is suspected to be shoplifting— and if they do say something to a shoplifter, once that person walks outside of the building, they are free to go. In my experience, even if there is surveillance footage of the shoplifter pocketing merchandise, the police still aren't called.
So there you have it: these are just a few of the things you probably didn't want to know about your favorite neighborhood drugstore. Happy shopping!
