Walgreens' cash flow using its 2011 annual report. Currently ranked as the largest drugstore chain in the U.S., Walgreens had its beginnings in 1901 when Charles R. Walgreen bought the Chicago drugstore where he worked as a pharmacist. Over the next two decades, Walgreen bought 20 additional stores, adding such features as soda fountains with luncheon service, as well as his own line of drug products. The company added its first photofinishing studio in 1919 and introduced the malted milkshake at its fountain counters in 1922. By 1925, Walgreens had 65 stores with total annual revenue of $1.2 million. Walgreens' sales passed the $1 billion mark in 1975, and the company continued its growth and innovation to its current position of leadership in the retail pharmacy industry (Funding Universe, n.d.). With record profits of $2.7 billion in fiscal year 2011, Walgreens filled 819 million prescriptions, a figure that equates to...
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