Full-Time
Associate Category Manager
Household
Updated on 9/11/2026
Walgreens
10,001+ employees
Retail pharmacy chain with health services
Compensation Overview
$65k - $113.8k/yr
Deerfield, IL, USA
In Person
Bachelor's
 Operations & Logistics (1) |
|---|
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- A bachelor's degree and at least 2 years of experience in two or more of retail, procurement or purchasing, merchandising, vendor relations, pharmacy operations, or retail marketing; alternatively, a high school diploma or GED and at least 4 years of experience in two or more of those areas.
- Experience working with profit-and-loss concepts, including revenue, cost of goods sold, gross profit margin, operating expenses, and income.
- Knowledge of customer-centric retailing principles and analytics of customer purchase behavior.
- At least 2 years of experience developing merchandising, vendor relations, and marketing programs in the retail business.
- Intermediate-level skill in Microsoft Excel.
- Basic skill in Microsoft PowerPoint.
- Basic skill in Microsoft Word.
- Plan, develop, and recommend sales, gross profit, inventory control, and merchandise turnover objectives for assigned departments and items.
- Develop and recommend merchandising, display, advertising, distribution, packaging, and sales plans and programs for assigned items and merchandise departments.
- Negotiate buying contracts for categories or subsets of categories as determined by the Divisional Merchandise Manager or Category Manager, and review contracts with the Category Manager.
- Analyze market, competitive, and customer perception data and provide price-level recommendations to the Divisional Merchandise Manager and Category Manager.
- Review and analyze historical and year-to-date category performance data, recommend category performance goals, and manage category performance as assigned.
- Work with Store Experience and merchandise planning to build and review category insights, using data to recommend planograms, ROTO spots, promotional programs, merchandising assortments, forecasts, and other category initiatives.
- Develop an understanding of Walgreens and Walgreens Boots Alliance private brands, including assortment, projected sales forecasts, gross profit levels, and merchandising and promotional programs.
- Work with the Category Manager or Divisional Merchandise Manager to project sales forecasts and gross profit levels within assigned categories.
- At least 1 year of experience leading cross-functional teams.
Walgreens is a retail pharmacy network in the United States that sells prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs, health and wellness products, and offers photo services. It operates through a large network of stores and an online platform, enabling customers to order prescriptions or products online and pick them up the same day. Walgreens’ photo service lets customers print photos and create personalized gifts such as photo books, cards, invitations, and other custom items via in-store kiosks or online. The company differentiates itself with a nationwide store footprint, integrated pharmacy and health services, and the ability to deliver convenience through online ordering and same-day pickup. Its goal is to provide convenient access to medications and health-related products while expanding personalized consumer services to improve everyday wellness.
Company Size
10,001+
Company Stage
Grant
Total Funding
$25M
Headquarters
Deerfield, Illinois
Founded
1901
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Walgreens is running free flu and COVID vaccine clinics with community groups in September 2026.
- Sycamore's ownership lets management close weak stores faster, reducing drag from dead inventory.
- Nearby closures funnel remaining prescriptions into surviving Walgreens stores.
What critics are saying
- Roughly 1,200 planned closures through 2027 destroy traffic, jobs, and neighborhood trust.
- The April 2025 DOJ settlement imposed seven years of compliance mandates and staffing requirements.
- CVS and Caremark exploit every Walgreens closure, accelerating an existential prescription-share spiral.
What makes Walgreens unique
- Walgreens still commands a national pharmacy footprint after Sycamore's August 2025 take-private.
- Mike Motz is pairing retail pharmacies with healthcare services and local vaccine access.
- PharmStart, expanded nationwide in February 2026, creates an internal pharmacist pipeline.
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Benefits
Flexible Work Hours
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -5%1 year growth
↓ -5%2 year growth
↓ -5%Walgreens is closing roughly 1,200 of its approximately 8,500 US locations through 2027, with many customers being redirected to nearby CVS pharmacies. The pattern is reshaping suburban pharmacy markets without direct competition. In August 2025, Walgreens completed a $10 billion sale to private equity firm Sycamore Partners, taking the 124-year-old chain private for the first time. Mike Motz was named chief executive, replacing Tim Wentworth. CVS is gaining market share without active expansion efforts. Federal and state rules require orderly prescription transfers when pharmacies close, often directing patients to the nearest CVS location. CVS and Walgreens together now handle nearly 40% of all US retail prescription sales. CVS benefits from owning Caremark, a dominant pharmacy benefit manager, providing vertical integration advantages.
Walgreens is closing fewer than 100 stores in 2026, significantly scaling back from its original plan to shutter approximately 1,200 underperforming locations. The drugstore chain's new owner, private equity firm Sycamore Partners, revised the closure strategy after completing its acquisition in August 2025. Several hundred stores had already closed before the acquisition. The company confirmed around a dozen recent or upcoming closures to USA Today, including locations in Washington DC, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington state, and Wisconsin. At the time of acquisition, Walgreens operated 8,500 US locations. The chain currently lists approximately 8,000 stores. Sycamore Partners has previously acquired retailers including Staples, Talbots, and Nine West.
September program calendar. EACM is partnering with Walgreens to offer a FREE vaccine clinic on Tuesday, Sept. 22, from 9:30am - 2pm. This includes both Flu and COVID-19 vaccines. Walk-ins are welcome, but Eastern Area Community Ministries Inc recommend reserving your spot by signing up in the EACM lobby. Here's the full September program calendar: September 2, 2026
Incoming flu vaccination season. Working together to build healthier communities, Rosalia Fajardo, Director of Disability Strategic Partnerships at ECNV, is proud to partner with Walgreens to provide free flu vaccines to members of the multicultural diaspora who serve on the Fairfax County Health Department's Multicultural Advisory Council (MAC). Confirmed during the Council's June 2026 meeting, this partnership reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to preventive healthcare, promoting health equity, and supporting the community leaders who connect people with disabilities and diverse communities to essential health resources.
Laboratoires Pierre Fabre appoints Nicolas Zombré as CEO for U.S. Dermocosmetics. Laboratoires Pierre Fabre, one of the world's second-largest dermo-cosmetics companies and one of Europe's leading pharmaceutical groups, recently announced the appointment of Nicolas Zombré as Chief Executive Officer of its U.S. Dermocosmetics operations. In this role, Zombré will oversee the company's U.S. dermocosmetics business across its portfolio of brands, including Avène, René Furterer and Klorane, as Pierre Fabre continues to build momentum in the U.S. market. This appointment reflects Pierre Fabre's continued investment in expanding its U.S. footprint across retail, medical and digital channels. Avène has emerged as one of the fastest-growing dermocosmetics brands in the U.S., delivering double-digit year-over-year growth and building strong retail momentum with leading partners including Amazon, CVS, Target, Ulta, Walgreens and, most recently, Walmart. This growth has been fueled by continued consumer demand for effective, scientifically proven skincare across Avène's core categories, with Cicalfate+ Restorative Protective Cream delivering standout growth of +32%. Retinal 0.1 Intensive Multi-Corrective Cream, Tolerance Control Skin Recovery Cream, and the new Tolerance Facial Foaming Cleanser have also contributed to the brand's continued growth. Zombré will bring his global leadership experience and omnichannel expertise to further scale the business. Zombré brings nearly two decades of leadership experience within Pierre Fabre. He began his career at Pierre Fabre Dermo-Cosmétique in France in 2006 as a Product Manager for Galénic and Klorane, later taking on trade marketing responsibilities for major pharmacy accounts in France. In 2013, he moved to Brazil to lead National Sales and Trade Marketing and was subsequently promoted to Commercial Director, expanding his international go-to-market experience across diverse business models. From 2018 to 2020, Zombré served as General Manager of Pierre Fabre Dermocosmétique in Chile, where he focused the affiliate's strategy on consumer centricity and digitalization. In June 2020, he was appointed General Manager of Pierre Fabre's dermocosmetics division in Spain and later assumed leadership of Pierre Fabre Pharma Spain, overseeing brands including A-Derma, Ducray, Eau Thermale Avène, Klorane and René Furterer. Most recently, he served as General Director of Pierre Fabre in Spain, leading the affiliate's transformation across omnichannel strategy, retail excellence and value-added services for pharmacy, e-retail and physician partners. "Nicolas has a proven track record of driving transformation across some of our most dynamic markets, and he joins at a pivotal moment for Pierre Fabre in the U.S.," said Eric Ducournau, CEO of Laboratoires Pierre Fabre. "His experience leading digital and omnichannel strategy abroad gives him exactly the expertise we need to accelerate our growth and strengthen our position as a leader in dermocosmetics." "I'm honored to take on this role at such an exciting moment for Pierre Fabre in the U.S.," said Nicolas Zombré, CEO of Laboratoires Pierre Fabre U.S. "Our brands have built deep trust with consumers and healthcare professionals, and I see tremendous opportunity to build on that foundation by strengthening those relationships, expanding our presence across retail and digital channels, and continuing to lead with the science and credibility our portfolio is known for. I look forward to working with the U.S. leadership to write this next chapter." Zombré's appointment marks the next step in Pierre Fabre's long-term strategy to strengthen its presence in the U.S. market, one of the company's key growth priorities globally.