Former Walgreens CEO Sues Company for Alleged Broken Contract

Greg Wasson claims pharmacy chain reneged on deal with his new company Cooler Screens

6/12/2023

Walgreens is being sued over the early termination of an agreement to install Cooler Screens’ smart cooler doors at thousands of stores.

The former CEO of Walgreens is suing the company for $200 million on allegations of breach of contract.

Greg Wasson was CEO of the pharmacy store chain from 2009 to 2014. As reported by Bloomberg, he’s suing his former employer in a contract dispute with a Chicago-based technology startup called Cooler Screens that he helped found in 2017. Wasson claims that current Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer reneged on an agreement to replace glass doors on store refrigerator displays with high-tech digital screens that would flash product information and advertisements at consumers while they were shopping for cold beverages.

[Read more: “Walgreens Laying Off 10% of Corporate Workforce”]

According to a complaint filed June 7 in state court in Chicago, Brewer’s decision to end a rollout of the smart doors that Wasson and his partners at Cooler Screens had committed to installing at 2,500 Walgreens stores across the United States cost their business more than $200 million.

Cooler Screens had sold the company on a pilot project with the innovative doors in 2018 before winning a nationwide contract, only to have Brewer change direction after she took on the role of CEO in 2021, according to the complaint.

Walgreens customers gave the doors mixed reviews, according to media accounts.

Progressive Grocer reached out to Walgreens and received the following statement: “We are disappointed that Cooler Screens is falsely claiming that anything other than their failure to perform was the basis for the termination of our contractual relationship. The claims and allegations in Cooler Screens’ complaint are baseless and unfounded. Safety, customer experience, and meeting revenue goals are a priority for our company. Cooler Screens failed to meet its contractual obligations, and the decision to terminate the contract was based on our experience with Cooler Screens.”

In January, Cooler Screens expanded its platform beyond the cooler through its “One Store, One Platform” offering, bringing screens to end caps, checkout lane coolers, pharmacies and more. The technology can be integrated by retailers – and activated by brands and marketers – to offer targeted and relevant advertising.

Last month, The Kroger Co. extended its partnership with Cooler Screens after a three-year pilot. The in-store retail media company will bring smart screens into 500 Kroger stores across the United States.

Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens, which operates nearly 9,000 retail locations across the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, is No. 5 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.