Walgreens further elevates beauty at mass with 'Night at the W'

Following the "People’s Choice Awards," Walgreens is celebrating its involvement in the awards by hosting “Night at the W” events at its stores nationwide on Jan. 10.



The “Night at the W,” which leverages the expertise of its beauty advisers, is yet another example of how the pharmacy retailer is elevating the beauty experience at mass. And the event is an ideal way to promote its beauty advisers.



With a staff of 26,000-plus beauty advisers, the expansion of the LOOK Boutique concept, the expertise from its online beauty engine Beauty.com, and the merger with Alliance Boots, Walgreens is giving the U.S. mass-market beauty world a significant makeover, and the “Night and the W” events further illustrate the effort.



The retailer’s voyage to makeover the beauty experience within its stores really gained traction following the 2010 acquisition of Duane Reade. As the number of LOOK Boutiques within both Duane Reade and Walgreens continue to grow, the company is also creating a multi-channel play inside the store by tying in some of the e-commerce assets the company acquired in 2011 in the Drugstore.com deal.



Then there’s the merger agreement with Alliance Boots, which will undoubtedly serve as a powerful accelerant to its existing beauty strategy. Alliance Boots has seen great success with its No. 7 brand — a top-selling brand in the U.K. for face, lip and eye makeup. Walgreens’ recent opening of its flagship store in Los Angeles marked the first time that No. 7 was available in a Walgreens location.