Walgreens customers in greater Chicago and Dallas-Ft. Worth will soon be able to pick up a Sprint plan with their prescriptions.
An eight-location test of in-store Sprint shops that began last spring in Gainesville, Fla., will soon spread to 80 more pharmacies in Illinois and Texas.
The Sprint Express sections feature carrier-supplied staff and a curated selection of pre- and postpaid plans and products. Customers can purchase select devices, switch carriers, sign up for service plans and pay their bills at the mobile shops.
“Our customers who have visited the existing Sprint Express test locations … are telling us that they really like the convenience of being able to meet their mobile phone needs while shopping at Walgreens,” said Richard Ashworth, the pharmacy chain’s operations president.
Dow Draper, Sprint’s chief commercial officer, said the expansion increases Sprint’s presence in locations “that are often a daily destination for consumers. This makes it easy and convenient for them to interact with us.”
The new Express shops are expected to open by year’s end, and the partners are also exploring “other mobile wireless initiatives,” Ashworth said.
In announcing the program in April, Draper cited Walgreens’ five-mile proximity to 76 percent of the population. “It just makes sense to put Sprint Express stores inside existing locations that already generate a lot of foot traffic,” he said. “Our expertly trained associates will be on hand to answer their questions. It’s the perfect relationship, blending convenience with value and the accessibility for consumers to get all of their shopping needs met at one location.”
In addition, Walgreens’ 250,000 nationwide employees will be eligible for unique offers and plans under the Sprint and Boost Mobile brands.
The expansion comes as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reviews the proposed merger of Sprint and T-Mobile into a $146 billion, No. 3 mobile carrier with more than 90 million consumer subscriptions.
Walgreens, a unit of U.S.-Swiss holding company Walgreens Boots Alliance, is the country’s the No. 2 pharmacy chain behind CVS, but its 2017 tech sales placed it well ahead of CVS on TWICE’s Top 100 CE Retailers Report.
