Gourlay to Lead Walgreens as President

Alex Gourlay will assume the role of president of Walgreens when it completes its acquisition of European pharmacy retailer Alliance Boots in the first quarter of calendar 2015.Current Walgreens president and chief executive officer Greg Wasson will elevate into the role of president and ceo of the new combined company, Walgreens Boots Alliance, which Wasson says will be headquartered in the Chicago area. (Walgreens is based in Deerfield, IL.)Gourlay, currently president of customer experience and daily living, will be part of a blended management team reporting to Wasson that includes Stefano Pessina, currently executive chairman of Alliance Boots, and various others. Pessina will serve as executive vice chairman of the new company and be responsible for strategy and mergers & acquisitions. The new team is effective upon the closing of the transaction in 2015.Walgreens Boots Alliance will comprise four divisions – Walgreen Co., Boots, Pharmaceutical Wholesale and International Retail, and Global Brands.As Walgreens works to complete the deal it initiated in 2012 (see Related Articles), Gourlay has already announced a new organizational structure for Walgreen Co. (i.e., Walgreens) through an internal email filed as a SEC document. Effective Sept. 1, his direct reports will be:Mark Wagner, currently president of community management and store operations, will take on a new role as president, business operations. Wagner will be responsible for creating a customer-focused organization that supports stores, eliminates waste and simplifies work to ensure the retailer can invest in initiatives that matter to team members and customers.Sona Chawla, president, digital, and chief marketing officer, will continue in that role.Brad Fluegel, currently senior vice president and chief strategy officer, will become svp, chief strategy and business development officer.Richard Ashworth, formerly of Alliance Boots, will serve as president, retail and pharmacy operations.Meanwhile, Gourlay will continue to lead the merchandising team while the company searches for a new leader for the daily living organization.'Next Chapter'Wasson announced a three-year “Next Chapter” plan for Walgreens Boots Alliance designed to maximize the scope and scale of the new company, which will comprise 11,000-plus stores and 350,000-plus employees. (See “Walgreens Boots Alliance Fact Sheet” in Attached Files.) To accelerate performance, according to a media release, the company will provide:a differentiated retail experience that transforms the retail model for health and wellness and changes the way women shop for beauty.integrated pharmacy and health care that advances the role of pharmacists and access to innovative health care services.global pharmaceutical services that reinvent the pharmaceutical value chain and deliver a seamless specialty pharmacy model.

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