Walgreens

** This business page is NOT for the two-​story Walgreens located at 135 Powell St. **
Looking at the photos, there appear to be only two that are of the right Walgreens location on Powell St and Sutter St. Similarly, many of the reviews are clearly written with the wrong Walgreens location in mind. In any case, hopefully this will clear up the situation.
In terms of the actual Walgreens located at 459 Powell St, it is basically your typical convenience store. It’s main selling point is that it is open 24 hours. As it is located just north of Union Square, it gets plenty of traffic from tourists and shoppers. At any given time you may randomly encounter a surge of people and an extremely long line at checkout. And, if you visit at night, it’s common to run into some interesting characters ranging from local homeless to drunken partiers. That said, the staff is generally friendly and helpful.

Most amazing walgreens I’ve ever seen! Huge!!! their cosmetics department — upstairs — has everything, while downstairs has groceries, etc.

I don’t know what kind of a super Walgreen’s this is, but this place is on steroids. How many Walgreen’s do you know that have a sushi bar? This place is simply the most modern, clean, filled store I have ever seen across both coasts.
We got some water for our room and some new Dr. Scholls as damn this city has a lot of hills and damn I’m not in my 20’s any longer.
Beware though lots of bums around and even though there is plenty of security, the feeling can be a bit unwelcoming at times. Cops can’t do much though as if they do, some genius will scream brutality or something and start a «peaceful «protest…peaceful yeah right.
But that said, this Walgreen’s should be in the book of things to do while in this city.

This Walgreens has an entire fresh food section:
Sushi made while you watch
Sandwhiches
quinoa cups
salads
Vegan
Meat dishes
pastries
coffee bar
fruits bowls and cups
It really is amazing.
The service was nice at this Walgreens and the place was very clean.

Oh Walgreens, you always seem to be closeby whenever I’m in the US. This one was a short walk from our hotel so the one we frequented almost daily. What other store could you buy a souvenir spoon, sushi, or meds? I only got the spoon (cheapest place to buy it) but we loaded up on snacks and chocolate that aren’t available in Canada. It was always busy with a line up towards the coolers but it moved quick. Also, the aisles can get pretty crowded too.
The guys working here (I don’t think I ever saw a woman working the front tills) were always efficient and quick. We didn’t have a Walgreens card since we don’t live in the US but he signed us up for one using a hotel phone number. Cool, now I have a card to get better prices next time I shop at Walgreens!
Was approached inside and outside for money but people weren’t aggressive. Good location and always found something to buy here, even if I was just looking.

This is the NICEST walgreens I have ever been to. It is located on Powell Street in Union Square and is two stories tall. Filled with everything you could ever think of (appropriate to a Walgreens, of course) as well as a fresh food section with sushi, fresh squeezed juice, smoothies, pastries, salads, fruit, etc. The lines move quickly and the employees are always happy to help.
There are a few tables available to patrons needing a space to enjoy their food and it is very clean and well maintained. They always have security at the main entrance as it can get very busy in these parts of town.
I highly recommend passing by with whatever needs you may have. It is the best thing available to tourists and locals alike, other than the Bristol Farms located in the Westfield Mall which may be too expensive for the blood of those on a budget!

The pharmacist manager, Jessica, is the most helpful pharmacist I’ve met. Quick to help and very thorough in giving me information. Would recommend to everyone!

the store u sove to hate pharmacy technician told anoher techncian i stunk
the manager rsed to take any actio astoren ii am in touch with corporate office, aend th state pharmacy dedpt jessica vu phar managere me a weak apology
i no long trust walgreen a racist store rub by chinese

Conveniently located near Union Square and right next door to the hotel I was staying at. Inevitably I always forget to pack something when I’m traveling and it was so nice to be able to pick up contact solution and nail clippers. One morning I was waiting in line and accidentally dropped my Starbucks drink on the ground. I was so embarrassed but the Walgreens man was so nice and even asked if I’d like him to throw away my now empty Starbucks cup. Even the cashier was nice enough to tell me it happens and left me leaving much less like a clumsy dork. Here’s to being more awake during my next visit!

Update — I’d advise shoppers to closely check their receipt verses the prices on the counter. This particular Walgreeds over charges — that is to say they charge more than the price on the counter in violation of California Law. California law says they have to sell the item for what the price is on the counter. Walgreeds has been cited for this by the authorities but continues to do this none the less. Back to our previously scheduled review — please read on…
I sometimes stop in this Walgreeds on my way up the hill — it is mostly for the tourists and not aimed at the locals.
I’ve found at times it is poorly merchandised like you go in to grab paper towels or toilet paper on the way home and the counter is empty.
This store is a nesting place for tourists I’d prefer to avoid at busy times since they are all in a daze being overwhelmed with San Francisco.
But
The main reason I’m writing this review is to warn all of you to look at the stale dates on the food they offer. Many others have commented on the high quality food and goodies they tempt you with and I’m not above grabbing some when I’m in the very long checkout line.
But then Again
When I got home the fancy baked goods were stale dated and should not have been on the counter. So I would suggest all of you if shopping for «fresh fruit» baked goods or whatever look closely at the label so you don’t get rotten food.
I can only guess why things might go stale at such a high volume store which is almost always packed with out of townees — but I suspect the very high prices they get for the high end goodies means they don’t turn over as fast as one would think and some of them go bad on the counter and are not pulled.

Conveniently located on Powell, but clearly catering to tourists. As pharmacies go, this one is fine, but still blah. The do have some food, but of course is sugary, processed stuff.
Oddly enough, I do like the San Francisco panoramas in the window, but not enough to buy one.

There seem to be some mix-​ups with the reviews of this Walgreens and the bigger more impressive one a bit further south on Powell street.
This is a much smaller Walgreens on the corner of Powell and Sutter. It’s your average everyday Walgreens with your garden variety goods of every other Walgreens.
There is one homeless man who regularly begs out front of this location. He’s basically been there forever and loves to shake his cup in your face as you walk past, but he’s harmless. Steer clear if that makes you uncomfortable.
Not much else to say. If you need a pharmacy or some relatively inexpensive snacks nearby to Union Square and want to avoid the crowds of the bigger store down the street, come to this one.

I understand it’s Walgreens and their customer service skills are not the best but wow I had the worst service here!
I was told I could go to a Walgreens to get a clipper card. Since I’m not from the area and a ways from the nearest station I thought I’d stop and get a clipper card while visiting my friends. I asked an employee where I can purchase a clipper card for Bart and Muni and he walked me over to the little kiosk instead of pointing which was nice. A young lady came over and I told her I wanted a Clipper Card. She asked how many days do I want. I told her I wanted 7 days since I’ll be here for a week. She goes over their terms and conditions about it only being good for 7 consecutive days and it’s cash only (which is stupid) and there are no refunds. I says ok since that makes sense and I just need a card to get around the city. Upon paying her I get card and and she tells me to scratch the days. I’m about to scratch the days and I notice it says Muni on the card. I ask her if this is good for Bart as well. She, in a sassy tone says «No, they are for Muni only.» A little confused I was like but I wanted a Clipper card since I will be taking the Bart as well. She continues with her sass and says «well you didn’t ask if it was for Bart.» I was like well your sign clearly says Clipper card and from my experience they are good for Bart, Muni, and Cable Car. She tells me that no prepaid pass is good for all of those, just Muni. I was still confused because I clearly stated I wanted a Clipper Card and what she sold me was not what I wanted even though I clearly stated I wanted a clipper card and the other employee that walked me over to the kiosk heard me say I wanted it for Bart and Muni. I became a little upset and I told her that I was upset with the situation and now I cannot get a refund for a service I’m not going to fully use and I’d have to spend even more money to use Bart. She didn’t appear to acknowledge my frustration and align with me. She just kept saying I didn’t ask if I wanted to use Bart. This is true I didn’t ask because the sign clearly showed clipper cards. I ask to speak to a manager. When the manager comes over I tell her I’m frustrated with the situation and and I was given the wrong expectation of what I was being sold. She also didn’t acknowledge my frustration. I told her I’m not from the area and that I was sold something I don’t want because it wasn’t what I was expected. She didn’t appear to care at all and immediately became defensive. She questioned if I asked if the card was good for Bart and Muni and I said no because how would I know since I’m not from here and from the past Clipper Cards are good for both. She tells me they don’t sell Clipper Cards to which I pointed to the sign and said well this says differently. I asked for a refund and she said they don’t give refunds. I understood the terms and condition which are just guidelines. I wanted my money back because I wasn’t given the proper expectation and I felt the employee should have set these expectations. This Walgreens is in the heart of downtown with tourists. This situation could have been easily avoided if there was proper training by asking simple open ended or closed ended questions. For example: Where are you from? Do you plan on taking Bart, Muni, and Cable cars?
To which I could have responded «I’m from out of town, yes I plan on riding all of those for transportation.» She could then respond with «As it turns out we only sell cards that work with Muni. But I can refer you to the local Bart Station where you can purchase what you’re looking for.»
It’s not that difficult to ask the questions and it can really make the customer experience that much better.
I work in customer service and I know how difficult it can be. However, for a manager to verbally attack me and for me to be accused of something should have never happened. That’s very basic customer service.
I may return to this location on my next visit but for my remaining visit I wont be returning. The managers and staff need to go through further training in customer service and understand how to acknowledge and align with customers while also providing solutions and not arguments.

I can only imagine that the negative reviews of this location came before 459 Powell got its nails done, got a pedicure, got its hair did. This store is two stories of pure Walgreens awesomeness. Yes, you can get the usuals: deodorant, allergy meds, luggage locks, blah blah blah. Can we concentrate on what’s really important? Can we talk about what makes this location so darn special? It’s one of those new-​fangled Super Walgreens with a HUGE Slurpee machine, the Coke machine with 195 672 different permutations and case after case of pastries.
What? A Walgreens that sells profiteroles and the like? A Walgreens? Yep. It’s fancy… and full of sugar. I WAS BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS! After doing a Homer Simpson-​esque giggle and hoppity hop, I decided on a mixed blue slurpee (yes, the flavor was ‘blue’… along with the other flavors I added), cream puff and rocky road bar. Even as I dove into the sweet treats, I couldn’t believe what i was experiencing. A Walgreens is a Walgreens is a Walgreens… unless that Walgreens can make your blood sugar level spike threefold courtesy of Science™ Coca-​Cola and gourmet-​ish pastry. Oh, SF. You’re just too wacky not to love.
You probably shouldn’t bring kids here, though. It won’t be pretty for you.

We looked but did not buy.
We were going somewhere else, but it was worth window shopping for a minute to orient ourselves to our staycation neighborhood. Walgreens around here sell food, which is good to know.
Want to know why some of the tourists around here may smell a little stale? This Walgreens locks up their deodorant!
bwahaha!

No 24 hour Pharmacy? Boooo. Why even open up a Pharmacy now a days if it isn’t 24 hour? What the heck? Well, so anyways, I bought some watered down medicine for my cold and coughed my way back to the hotel.
The staff was friendly though.

They’re a few bad apples at this Walgreens, considering it’s a flagship store you’d think they would only want the best of the best at this type of store so they can roll it out to other divisions.
Besides that, this Walgreens is wonderful. No bums wandering around stealing stuff and or asking for .50 cents or a dollar.
Clean.

Nobody panics as long as the things are going according to the plan.
Joker– the dark knight.
So I wanted to return this gel I bought from them, the day before as I didn’t like it. The problem was I didn’t had a receipt.
I asked this asian woman and she said she doesn’t know how to return without a receipt so she went to the big black security guard and after sometime he called me and said ‘we can’t do it without a receipt and have the right to refuse return to anyone. You can ask Xin and see if he is willing to make an exception. ‘
While he was speaking I thought ‘why am I wasting my time with him?‘
Anyway I went to Xin and he said after checking somethings he said ‘I can return you the retail price which is 15 bucks’ I actually paid more than 20 bucks for that.
I had to show them my bank transaction ID to make them believe plus it was showing that on his LCD.
It’s like a problem comes and people actually show their true behavior.

This is a great place to stay on top of because:
1) it’s 24 hours and sells snacks that can help you avoid an outrageous room service bill or sketch diner rip off;
2) let’s you replace essentials rather than having to pay in the hotel fit shop.
Keep in mind — thus sits square in the middle of the Union Square intel district so it’s always crowded.

***This Walgreens is located in Union Square – just north of the main shopping area; because of this store’s location, you can expect long lines here; this is worsened by the fact that a lot of their products are behind glass so shopping here can be very time consuming and frustrating***
This Walgreens is located right in Union Square just north of the main shopping area; parking is difficult to find here though there is a parking structure relatively close to this shop.