Study: Walgreens L.A. Customers Could be Overpaying by Nearly 40 Percent

A study of drug store prices across the nation conducted by the National Consumers League showed that the prices of basic items at Walgreens in L.A. County can vary by as much as 40 percent depending on which location customers shop at.  

Investigators checked prices at 149 Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid stores across L.A. County and found that shoppers could end up paying nearly $30 more for the items in the survey if they purchased them at Walgreens’ most expensive prices versus their least expensive. That is nearly three times the price difference at CVS and two-and-a-half times that of Rite Aid.

The study concluded that about 75 percent of the items surveyed at Walgreens cost at least 10 percent more at their highest price versus their lowest, compared to fewer than 25 percent of items at the other two chains.  

The study included basic drug store items such as over-the-counter pills, soap, deodorant, coffee, orange juice, toilet paper and more.

Sometimes basic items can vary even within a town, as the study found in Arcadia: at Arcadia's store at 140 E. Live Oaks Avenue investigators found that Centrum Silver vitamins cost $2.50 more than at the location at Foothill Boulevard.

A Walgreens representative told the Huffington Post, which reported on the study, that costs can vary even within a town "based on the store's cost of real estate, its hours of operation including whether it is open 24 hours, labor costs and the number of customers it serves each day, among other factors."

For more on the study's conclusions, which includes data from stores across the country, check out the Huffington Post article here.