Industry 'legends' deserve recognition

Drug Store News, Oct 9, 1995 by Marie Griffin

For us. Drug Store News' Retail EXcellenc (REX) Awards are an emotional high point because it's our opportunity to help the industry honor its best. The REX retailer and wholesaler winners are chosen by manufacturers, and REX product, marketing, advertising and company awards are voted by the retailers, and this year, we at Drug Store News launched our own special recognition program, the Hall of Honors. For me, these awards were the most heartwarming of all.

For their lifetime achievements, we named to our Hall of Honors Charles R. Walgreen Jr., 89, who led Walgreens from 1939 until 1971, and Irving I. Stone, 86, founder/chairman of American Greetings.

There are a number of interesting parallels in the careers of these two honorees, and of their companies.

Both businesses were founded in the first decade of this century. Charles R. Walgreen Sr. studied pharmacy on his own and worked for a number of other druggists before purchasing his first store in Chicago for $6,000 in 1901. Jacob Sapirstein, Irving Stone's father, started his business in 1906 selling postcards from a horsedrawn wagon in Cleveland, Ohio.

Both sons started in the business early and remain involved even in retirement.

In 1925, at age 19, Charles R. Walgreen Jr. officially joined the then-65-store chain as a drug apprentice. After graduating from the Michigan College of Pharmacy in 1928, he worked in various positions in the company before being named vice president at age 27.

When his father died of cancer at age 66 in December 1939, Charles "Chuck" Walgreen Jr., age 33, was named president. After almost a quarter century in that post, C. R. Walgreen Jr. was named chairman in 1963, a title he held until he passed the baton to his son, Charles R. Walgreen III, in 1971. Since retiring, Chuck Walgreen has remained a consultant.

Under C.R. Walgreen Jr.'s watch, Walgreens ventured across the border in 1946 by purchasing an interest in a Mexican chain (divested in 1984), and it entered Puerto Rico in 1960; it was one of the first chains to fully embrace the self-service "revolution" in the 1950s and '60s; an early adopter of retail technology, Walgreens computerized and automated its warehouses in the early `60s.

At the precocious age of five, Irving Sapirstein (Stone) was stuffing postcards into envelopes in his family's living room; by age 12, he was keeping the company's books; after graduating from high school, he became a full-time salesman for his father's company, which was named American Greetings in 1938 and went public in 1952.

After holding several positions, Stone was named company president in 1960, then chairman and CEO in 1978. Even though he turned over the title of CEO to Morry Weiss in 1987, Stone still serves as founder/chairman and chairman of the executive committee of American Greetings' board of directors. In fact, Stone still goes to the office every day, where he remains "the final word on every verse."

A last and most important link between Charles R. Walgreen Jr. and Irving I. Stone is the consistent growth, innovation and success of their respective companies.

In the chain drug industry, Walgreens has been a consistent leader and innovator; in the past year alone, it passed such milestones as 2,000 stores and $10 billion in sales. For 20 years straight, it has increased its sales and earnings every quarter.

Innovation is also a point of pride for American Greetings, which, among other things, was a pioneer in the installation and maintenance of card cabinets for retailers. Its Creative Department - of which Irving Stone was the first editor, writer, art director and manager - is now one of the largest art studios in the country.

American Greetings boasts 89 years of consistent revenue growth and seven consecutive years of net income growth. Having passed the $1-billion mark in 1986, the company has already topped $1.8 billion and has its eye on $2 billion.

For lifetimes of dedication, leadership and customer responsiveness, we are proud to welcome Walgreen and Stone to our Hall of Honors.