SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report: April 14, 1997
WALGREEN CO.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Illinois 1-604 36-1924025
(State or other (Commission File (IRS Employer
jurisdiction of Number) Identification
incorporation) No.)
200 Wilmot Road, Deerfield, Illinois 60015
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (847) 940-2500
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)
Item 5. Other Events.
Walgreen Co. today announced that Charles R. Walgreen III will
retire as chief executive officer of the company in January 1998, after
more than 45 years of distinguished service.
Mr. Walgreen, who will be 62 at retirement, will continue to
serve on the Walgreen board of directors and preside over board meetings.
Mr. Walgreen was elected president and chief executive officer
of the company in 1971 and has served as chairman and CEO since 1976.
During his tenure as CEO, Walgreens has grown from 618 stores and
$800 million in sales in 1971 to become the largest drugstore chain
in the nation today, with 2,268 stores and 1996 sales of nearly $12 billion.
L. Daniel Jorndt, 55, currently president and chief operating
officer of Walgreens, will assume the additional responsibility as
chief executive officer of Walgreens, effective in January.
Mr. Walgreen joined the company, founded in 1901 by his grandfather,
Charles R. Walgreen, Sr., in 1952, beginning as a stock boy. He earned
his pharmacy degree in 1958 from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
During his more than four decades with Walgreens, Mr. Walgreen worked at
all levels of retailing.
In 1963 he was named administrative assistant to the vice president
of operations. He later served as a district manager from 1965 to 1966 and
Western regional director, then Midwestern regional director, from 1966
through 1968. Mr. Walgreen was elected vice president in 1968, president
in 1969, president and chief executive officer in 1971, and chairman and
chief executive officer in 1976.
Mr. Walgreen has been on the Walgreen board of directors since 1963.
He is a member of the American Pharmaceutical Association and the
Illinois Pharmacists Association. He is also a director and past chairman
of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores; a director of the Illinois
Retail Merchants Association; and a director of Junior Achievement of Chicago.
Mr. Jorndt joined Walgreens in 1963 after graduating from Drake
University with a pharmacy degree. He was named senior vice president
and treasurer in 1985 and was elected president and chief operating officer
of Walgreens in 1990.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
WALGREEN CO.
(Registrant)
By R. L. Polark_________
R. L. Polark
Senior Vice President
(Chief Financial Officer)
Date: April 14, 1997
