Walgreens "Up Market: Fresh" Mobile Tasting Tour Is Coming To Tampa {Giveaway}

For years I have been saying that drugstores are way more than just stores where you can buy medicine and other health products. You can get just about anything during a quick stop at your neighborhood drugstore - you can see a nurse if you're sick, pick up medication, grab a couple of items needed to finish your dinner preparation, and even shop for gifts and decorations for holidays. The only thing missing is fresh food - fruits, vegetables and meats. If drugstores had those items, you could run all of your errands for the week at one single store.

Well thanks to Walgreens, that one stop shop is a reality for Florida residents. Fresh foods are now being offered at newly renovated Well Experience stores. Fifteen Florida Walgreens, five of which are in the Tampa area, are part of this company pilot to transform the traditional drugstore into a health and daily living store. Each of the stores have been redesigned around customers' needs, including:

• A pharmacist located in front of the pharmacy, offering a greater opportunity for patient consultation and health care services such as vaccinations and health testing;
• A new Walgreens staff member called a Health Guide, equipped with an iPad and available to answer product and service questions, helps customers navigate the store and their health care options and sign up for events;
• Take Care Clinics, located in a limited number of stores, offer walk-in, accessible and affordable health care services provided by nurse practitioners;
• Fresh food, including fruits and vegetables, meats, prepared salads, sandwiches, wraps, take-and-bake pizzas and other on-the-go meal options;
• An enhanced beauty department display featuring prestige and niche cosmetic, skincare and hair care brands not typically found in drugstores;
• Web pickup service that allows customers to shop online and pick up the order at their neighborhood Walgreens;
• Express Rx or self-serve touch-screen kiosks that allow patients to quickly pick up and pay for prescriptions refills that they have ordered ahead of time.

In celebration of the new Well Experience stores, Walgreens is bringing their "Up Market: Fresh" mobile tasting tour to Tampa residents, via a custom-made, 40-ft bus. The bus will stop at three Tampa Well Experience Stores between March 8th and March 10th, and will provide Tampa residents samples of its innovative fresh foods and refreshments.

Tampa Up Market: Fresh mobile tasting tour schedule:

• Friday, March 8, 3PM-7PM, Well Experience Store, 2115 Hillsborough Ave., Tampa, FL 33610
• Saturday, March 9, 2PM-6PM, Well Experience Store, 11115 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Seffner, FL 33584
• Sunday, March 10, 12PM-4PM, Well Experience Store, 22829 State Rd. 54, Land O' Lakes, FL 34639

If you are in the Tampa area, stop by and visit the Fresh Bus for a free taste of the Well Experience stores' fresh new offerings. The tasting tour's daily locations and featured sample menu items will be shared via Twitter @upmarketfresh. Visitors will receive samples of fresh-made juices, smoothies, frozen yogurt, fresh brewed coffees and select specialty items.

If you can't make it to the bus, be sure to visit a newly renovated Well Experience store near you to learn how it has been transformed into a health and daily living destination. These stores are currently located in Tampa, Orlando, Miami and Fort Myers, and Walgreens plans to convert dozens more in Florida in 2013.

I just found out that my neighborhood Walgreens has been transformed into a Well Experience store, and I can't wait to check it out! Now not only can I pick up medications and other personal care items, I can grab some fresh food or on-the-go meals for our busy nights!

What fresh items are you looking forward to finding at your local Walgreens Well Experience store?

~*~Giveaway~*~

~*~$25 Walgreens Gift Card~*~

~*~3 Winners!~*~

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Disclosure: All opinions are my own. No compensation was received in exchange for this post.