Price Cutter turns focus to curbside pickup and grocery delivery services

With the sale of the majority of its Springfield area pharmacy accounts, Price Cutter is embarking on a new focus in its Springfield stores: grocery pickup and delivery.

Walgreens struck a deal with Price Cutter, as announced Tuesday night, taking over the grocery store chain's pharmacy accounts. The CEO of Price Cutter Supermarkets said the sale will lead to even more changes for the local grocer.

"We see the habits changing, and so we need to be ready for those changes and adapt with those changes," said CEO Erick Taylor.

While the vast majority of customers still want to pick out groceries themselves in the store, that is changing, with more shoppers than ever asking for a faster route to the dinner table.

"The fact we have a lot of locations makes it very easy for you to be able to pick your food up. You don't have to drive very far to get your groceries," Taylor said.

Converting pharmacies with covered drive-thru spaces will provide the infrastructure Price Cutter needs for curbside pickup throughout the greater Springfield area. Also on the way are some ten UPS locations to be added inside stores this year.

"We want to definitely apologize to our customers that were used to doing pharmacy business with us in the City of Springfield and greater area," Taylor said addressing the inconvenience of the prescription transfers.

For those who have prescriptions at Price Cutter stores, those are already being moved to Walgreens electronically Taylor said, except for the customers at the East Battlefield pharmacy location, which will remain open.

Taylor said the curbside pickup service will be free for orders of $90 or more and will carry a $2.99 fee for orders under $90. As for grocery delivery, it will be free for orders of $90 or more and carry a fee of $4.99 for orders under $90. Grocery delivery is already available, while pickup will be available throughout the city starting June1 of this year.