Walgreens Boots Alliance has named Roz Brewer, chief operating officer at Starbucks, as its new CEO.
Brewer will become CEO of the retail pharmacy chain effective March 15, and will join the company’s board of directors.
She succeeds current CEO Stefano Pessina, an Italian-born billionaire who has led the company for six years, following the merger between Walgreens and Alliance Boots in 2014. Pessina announced his plans to step down from the position in July, saying then that he felt the time was right to find a successor. Pessina will become executive chairman of the Walgreens board.
Brewer will also become a member of the Walgreens board of directors when she becomes CEO. Brewer has been serving as a member of the Starbucks board of directors.
Before joining Starbucks, Brewer was president and CEO of Sam’s Club, which is a division of Walmart. She was the first woman and first African American to lead a Walmart division. She also spent 22 years at Kimberly-Clark Corp., starting there as a scientist.
“The Board conducted an extensive search to identify an exceptional leader who will build on WBA’s track-record of success and take advantage of the many growth opportunities in many markets across the company,” Pessina said in a Walgreens news release. “We are excited to have found that person in Roz.”
Brewer joins Walgreens as the company deals with financial blows caused by COVID-19 and as it takes on a growing role in COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Walgreens and CVS Health have been administering vaccines in long-term care facilities in Illinois and elsewhere as part of a federal contract, and at least 92 Walgreens locations in Illinois are now vaccinating seniors and essential workers.
Even before COVID-19, Walgreens had been working to adapt to changing consumer habits and pressures related to reimbursements for medications.
Walgreens is working to cut costs by $2 billion a year by 2022 and laid off more than 100 employees in its Deerfield office in October 2019. Walgreens announced plans more than a year ago to shut many U.S. stores, and, as of October, had closed more than 200.
Walgreens also has been trying to give customers more reasons to visit its stores by forming partnerships with companies including Kroger and FedEx.
Recently, Walgreens expanded its partnership with Chicago-based VillageMD, with plans to open 500 to 700 physician-led primary care clinics inside Walgreens stores in the next five years. It’s also been offering curbside pickup, relaunched its prescription cost savings program for customers, and has enhanced its customer loyalty program. Walgreens announced earlier this month that it planned to launch its own Walgreens-branded credit cards.
