Last Wednesday, May 8th, I had the chance to attend the grand opening of the San Francisco Flagship Store of Walgreens.
The “flagship” stores of Walgreens are designed to complement the local communities.
Walgreens is striving to become everyone’s first choice for health and daily living. As they help people get, stay and live well, they have opened this flagship store that is unlike any drugstore you’ve seen in Northern California before! One thing I noticed about this Walgreens is that they’re really trying to keep up a high level of customer service by having the best retail pos system, highly trained employees and making sure no one leaves unhappy!
First and definitely my favorite thing about the Walgreens Flagship store is the LOOK Boutique beauty department!
It features so many prestige and niche cosmetic, skincare and hair care brands that I’ve never seen in other drugstores before! The LOOK Boutique features No7 by Boots, Britain’s leading skincare and cosmetics brand, which is known for its line of scientifically tested anti-aging serums.
One of the brands I’m dying to buy is GOSH Cosmetics, a brand from Denmark which is exclusively offered in the US by the LOOK Boutique! I’ve always heard great things about this brand so I got so excited that it’s finally here in the US! My favorite product is the Gloss Eclat & Brilliance lip gloss not only because it has a light and a mirror, but also because I love its color and shine!
As I was going around, I met Jasmyne of The Balm Cosmetics and she gave me a brief introduction of some of their products. Though I wasn’t able to actually try them, I got a pretty good look at their line. They’re very witty with their product names! There’s “Mary-Lou Manizer”, “BalmShelter”, “Meet Matt(e) Nude” and “Powder to the People” among many others.
Another standout feature of the LOOK Boutique, aside from the high-end makeup brands, is the expert brow shaping and grooming services available at the Ramy Eyebrow Bar. Ramy himself did my eyebrows!
I told him I was scared of over-plucking my eyebrows so he gave us some tips in grooming and shaping our eyebrows. He said my eyebrows weren’t that bad and that it’s very easy to groom and shape it. See below for my before and after photos.
Aside from the enhanced beauty department, this Walgreens Flagship Store offers more than just the usual snacks typically found at drugstores..
They offer hundreds of fresh food items and on-the-go meals that are made fresh daily. So if you need to grab a quick bite while waiting for your prescription meds, you’ll have lots of choices! They also have a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine that dispenses 130 varieties of Coca Cola fountain drinks, a self-serve frozen yogurt station with a toppings bar, a juice/smoothie bar offering fresh fruits and veggies.
An Upmarket Café has baristas preparing fresh brewed premium coffee and espressos. It also offers local, freshly baked goods. Love Ghirardelli? A replica display of the Ghirardelli Square can be seen just across the Upmarket Cafe! It offers a great selection of Ghirardelli premium chocolates!
And what’s a grand opening without gift bags, right?! So on that opening day, every person who purchased anything — yes, anything! — received a Walgreens gift bag with tons of gift items!
The Walgreens Flagship Store in San Francisco is a must-visit place for me even though I live a couple of miles away from it!
They offer so many products and services that you won’t ever find in other drugstores (not even in some department stores!). It’s like a one-stop shop for almost everything you may need, may it be prescription meds, makeup, bath and cleaning products, and food!
If you’re in the Bay Area, you may visit and experience everything that the Walgreens Flagship Store has to offer at Powell and O’Farrell streets in the Union Square neighborhood. It’s just across H&M and beside Uniqlo. You won’t regret seeing it cause It’s not your grandma’s drugstore!
See more photos of the event and the store in my Google Plus Photo Album!
Disclosure: I was invited to the grand opening of the Walgreens flagship store in San Francisco by Collective Bias®. I was compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Walgreens #SFWAG #CBias #SocialFabric. Thoughts and photos are my own. See my Disclosure Policy.
I went to the one in Boston! These Walgreens are out of this world!!
I agree! And the LOOK Boutique is just heaven! Definitely not something you’d expect from a drugstore!
This store looks BEAUTIFUL!!!! I do hope it is successful and they open more (hint hint-ORLANDO PLEASE) 🙂 Looks like a great place to shop (and eat!)
I think Walgreens may be opening more flagship stores in more states! My fingers are crossed for you! 🙂
I saw photos of these openings in my Facebook stream and fell in love! It seems like these stores have everything! I hope we get one in my area some day!
Hi Mariah! I do hope Walgreens decides to open one in your area! It would be so convenient to get everything you need in one place especially now that you’re expecting baby #2! 🙂
What a cool Walgreens! I SO wish the stores in our area looked like that and had that kind of offering!
It is cool! I wish they decide to create another one just across my house so I can visit any time I want!
Wow! Now that’s definitely a full-service Walgreens! Love how they are designing the store to fit the needs of their neighborhoods.
I agree! I love whoever conceptualized these flagship stores!
Oh my gosh – this was so much fun! I love the Walgreens Flagship Store in San Francisco! Amazing!!!! Thanks for sharing girlie.
It was so nice to meet you in person, Shannon! Please let me know when your post goes up and I’ll link to it! I’m sure you took way better photos! 🙂
I have to say, that is by FAR the fanciest Walgreens I’ve ever seen! Nice!
So true! I was so amazed cause it didn’t look like a drugstore at all! It’s a drugstore extraordinaire!
I’ve seen this on TV where Walgreens was going to offer more groceries and even produce and meat. Interesting idea and I’m very curious to how it will go. I wish ours would. Walgreens offers some great deals and sales, and they have many stores so convenient, too. Enjoy your shopping!
I cannot wait to see the one in Boston – a destination in and of itself!
Exciting news! From the pics of the store, it looks really nice! Thanks for letting us know of the store’s opening.
we did not have that big of wll green and then 2 of them open jsut last 2 mo
Walgreens’ new San Francisco flagship store in Union Square goes beyond your typical drugstore.
Wow, I thought our Walgreen was nice. Well, it is. Nothing like this one though!
Wow. I am jealous. I used to work for Walgreens for 3 years and we never had a store like that! Fun!
Welcome Walgreen, a store you can shop with confidence
I am so blessed to have a Walgreens about 1/2 a mile away. I shop there all the time, they have great sales and rewards.
I love shopping at Walgreens. I get alot of great deals there. I will have to check out this store when I am in the area. It looks very nice