Originally Posted by
bocastephen
Part of being in Hawaii is shopping at stores like Longs and ABC. I find Walgreens prices to be equal to or greater than Longs, so there is no real price or product advantage.
Most Longs stores are much larger than the average Walgreens
Here is what should worry Hawaiians about Walgreens - their corporate strategy is to place multiple locations in close proximity to each other - like pepperoni on a pizza. They get their customers by being the store of convenience - always around the corner, and always easy to find a late-night or 24hour location.
Being very familiar with the Walgreens strategy, I don't think that'll work here in the Islands, especially on Oahu. Waikiki is already dominated by ABC stores which pay a very steep price to have an ABC store within every two blocks. The rest of greater Honolulu doesn't have the infrastructure to support a Walgreens popping up on every street corner (all the ex-gas station lands have since been converted...
). And, outside of greater Honolulu, Walgreens won't have that name recognition unless they can offer a cheaper product than Longs. There are a great number of pukas out there that Walgreens can take advantage of, however, such as the Pearl Highlands center where the nearest Longs is at Pearlridge.
Still, the people of Hawaii look for bargains. So my bottom-line is, if Walgreens can't bring cheaper prices than Longs, I don't see them carving out a niche.