Walgreens pushing credit cards

storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Walgreens pushing credit cards

Post by storewanderer »

HCal wrote: May 1st, 2022, 1:34 am Many successful retailers have co-branded credit cards, so I don't think this is necessarily a sign of trouble. It's also common in other industries, for example airlines sometimes make more money on their credit cards than from flights.

But this is a new thing for pharmacy chains, which are probably looking for new revenue streams. I really hope it doesn't catch on, as it's annoying for both customers and cashiers, and the card offerings are usually not that great compared to what is available directly from banks.
I don't know if it is a sign of trouble as much as it is an annoyance for all involved.

You never hear people complain about Target pushing the Red Card, with its immediate 5% discount, it is simple to everyone involved and feels like it has a tangible benefit. The option to link it to your personal bank account opens it to many customers who cannot get a credit card and kills the discussion about "trying to sell customers a credit card with a high ripoff Interest rate" so that seems to be an accepted thing to bug every customer about at Target and score cashiers on conversions of.
mbz321
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 747
Joined: March 11th, 2010, 7:52 pm
Has thanked: 96 times
Been thanked: 54 times
Status: Offline

Re: Walgreens pushing credit cards

Post by mbz321 »

BillyGr wrote: April 28th, 2022, 8:15 am That Synchrony group is apparently pretty big - they do cards around here (NY) for a local chain of tire and muffler type shops.
Going way OT now, but Synchrony also offers other banking products. I've been using their High Yield Savings Account for years now as it has been paying interest rates well above the rest (.60% at the moment).
BillyGr
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1578
Joined: October 5th, 2010, 7:33 pm
Been thanked: 58 times
Status: Offline

Re: Walgreens pushing credit cards

Post by BillyGr »

Alpha8472 wrote: May 1st, 2022, 4:33 pm The Walgreens credit card does give 3 percent Walgreens Cash rewards on grocery and health and wellness purchases outside of Walgreens. You get 1 percent cash back everywhere Mastercard is accepted.

This card also gives discounts at Walgreens. This would be a good card to get to save some money. However, it would still be cheaper to shop somewhere else.
That all depends on what you buy. Just as an example, they sell honey which used to be $7.49 or so, now it's nearer to $10.99 as a "regular" price. However, they still put it on sale for $4.99 or B1G1F every couple weeks, so as long as you follow the sales that is cheaper than the same size in many supermarkets.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Walgreens pushing credit cards

Post by storewanderer »

Not sure what has happened but in recent weeks in my area Walgreens has replaced most (if not all) of its store managers with new people.

Something strange must have happened. Wouldn't be the first time. Just odd so many stores impacted at once.
Alpha8472
Posts: 3929
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 8:55 pm
Been thanked: 79 times
Status: Offline

Re: Walgreens pushing credit cards

Post by Alpha8472 »

Perhaps the old managers did not meet their quota for credit card sign ups. Just kidding.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Walgreens pushing credit cards

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: May 25th, 2022, 9:44 am Perhaps the old managers did not meet their quota for credit card sign ups. Just kidding.
I actually wondered this. It is literally every store in the area.

I know things have been really bad. This doesn't even touch on the turnover in the pharmacies (which is what likely led the store managers to leave as the Walgreens store managers are mostly certified pharmacy technicians and they are expected to "help out" in the pharmacy and when the pharmacy is understaffed that basically means they are in the pharmacy all the time).
Alpha8472
Posts: 3929
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 8:55 pm
Been thanked: 79 times
Status: Offline

Re: Walgreens pushing credit cards

Post by Alpha8472 »

Perhaps, burnout has caused the managers to quit. I do no know how much they get paid, but for all the stress you can find a better job. My friend was a pharmacy technician at Walgreens and left for a job in a prison dealing with murderers and other felons. Yes, the prison job was less stressful and about the same pay. He loved the new job and it had good union benefits.

Hospital jobs are rarer, but if you can get a job at a hospital, it pays much more and has union benefits. It would probably be less stressful than trying to run a Walgreens.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Walgreens pushing credit cards

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: May 27th, 2022, 12:38 am Perhaps, burnout has caused the managers to quit. I do no know how much they get paid, but for all the stress you can find a better job. My friend was a pharmacy technician at Walgreens and left for a job in a prison dealing with murderers and other felons. Yes, the prison job was less stressful and about the same pay. He loved the new job and it had good union benefits.

Hospital jobs are rarer, but if you can get a job at a hospital, it pays much more and has union benefits. It would probably be less stressful than trying to run a Walgreens.
The store managers who were hired 10-15 years ago can get close to $100k a year with a good store after bonus (there have been a couple years lately where the company canceled the bonus or only paid part of the bonus, they also made some changes to the bonus structure back around 2016 that made it less than it once was-again). Walgreens has eliminated multiple layers of store management over the years and the stores have quite a bit less staffing than they used to have and also fewer people in "pipeline" ready to promote to store manager due to changes made. So they in some cases do externally hire store managers now (never used to do that). The newer managers are paid less and would get closer to $75k a year with a good store after bonus. At this point I'm not sure how many of the old higher paid managers are left. Walgreens Store Managers also don't typically work more than 45-50 hours a week (compared to their counterpart store managers at CVS who routinely work 65-70 hour weeks).

Generally speaking Walgreens does pay higher wages to its employees than CVS and Rite Aid but there are some variables by market. I think Rite Aid is a lot closer, maybe even higher, in CA due to the union.

After COVID and the increases sales from test kids, vaccines, etc. most should be getting good bonuses.
Alpha8472
Posts: 3929
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 8:55 pm
Been thanked: 79 times
Status: Offline

Re: Walgreens pushing credit cards

Post by Alpha8472 »

Just recently, the government stopped paying for COVID vaccinations for the uninsured under 50. Now pharmacies do not get paid for giving COVID vaccinations for the vast majority of people. That revenue stream has been cut off and giving COVID vaccinations are a loss now. The COVID test kit demand has dropped off now. Sales are slowing down and some insurance companies are offering COVID tests for free through mail order. Walgreens has lost a huge chunk of money. With a sales drop-off of that magnitude I can see the store managers getting blamed for failing to meet recent sales goals.

Pharmacies all over realize that being forced by the government to give out free COVID vaccinations is a huge loss now. That is like having a pharmacist work for free giving out vaccinations. The law needs to be changed. Pharmacies should be allowed to charge for COVID vaccinations. The vast majority of COVID vaccinations now are illegal immigrants. All day long my pharmacy has to deal with giving out free vaccinations and we get no payment in return. We have to use our own needles, syringes, bandages, supplies, paperwork, etc. The government does not give us these things for free.

There are also a huge number of tourists and flight attendants from foreign countries. You cannot turn them away either. They are using up our vaccinations and don't pay.

Walgreens must be suffering from vaccination overload as the pharmacist is busy giving vaccinations instead of dealing with prescriptions from paying customers.
Post Reply