Gregory Wasson

Walgreens CEO Gregory Wasson announced Wednesday that he will step down from his position before the new year, just as America's largest drug store chain prepares to complete a merger with the Switzerland-based Alliance Boots. The company said in a statement that Stefano Pessina, executive chairman of Alliance Boots, will serve as acting CEO, pending a board search for a successor. Walgreens Chairman James Skinner will become Walgreens Boots Alliance's executive chairman.

Walgreen Inc.'s former Chief Financial Officer Wade Miquelon sued the drugstore operator on Thursday, alleging company executives defamed him in news reports that blamed him for errors in its earnings forecast. Miquelon sued Walgreen in a state court in Chicago claiming that CEO Gregory Wasson and director Stefano Pessina, the company's biggest shareholder, had made "false and disparaging" comments about him in a report by The Wall Street Journal, court documents showed. The Journal reported in August that Miquelon and another top executive lost their jobs after a $1 billion forecasting error in Walgreen's Medicare-related business.

If you enter a Walgreens and it looks more like an upscale sushi bar or a grocery store than a pharmacy, that's OK with Chief Executive Gregory Wasson. It's actually by design and part of the "Well Experience" concept that will be rolled out in more Walgreens stores this year as the company pushes further beyond the traditional look of a drugstore with a pharmacy counter in back to a variety of looks that also emphasize fresh food, beauty supplies and an array of private-label products. 

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) announced that Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and CEO of Target Corp., has been elected to chairman of its board of directors. Steinhafel, who previously served as the board’s vice chairman, succeeds Bill Rhodes, chairman, president and CEO of AutoZone Inc., who had served as chairman since 2010. RILA’s newly elected officers to its board of directors include: Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and CEO of Target Corp. (Chairman) Richard Dreiling, chairman and CEO of Dollar General Corp. (Vice Chairman) Gregory Wasson, president and CEO of Walgreen Co. (Second Vice Chairman) Eric Wiseman, chairman, president

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