Avoid Buying This Sweet Treat From Walgreens When You Can

While delicious ice cream can be made at home without a machine, sometimes it is just easier to pop into the nearest Walgreens location to quickly purchase a pint of store-bought ice cream. This usually seems like a wonderful idea, especially in the moment; however, consumers craving a sweet treat may actually want to choose a different path for soothing that craving. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, at some Walgreens locations, the ice cream selection is actually inside a locked chain freezer that can only be opened by an employee. While this is not true at every location, those in a hurry or who wanted to avoid human interaction may roll their eyes and head to a different store upon realizing that their creamy treat isn't as easy to retrieve as they expected.

On top of this, even if the ice cream section is lock-free, it is also more expensive at Walgreens than at many competing stores. For example, a 14-ounce container of Häagen-Dazs Strawberry Ice Cream (Häagen-Dazs also happens to make our top-ranked vanilla ice cream out of 11 popular brands) will run you around $6.99 at Walgreens, while the same exact product is $4.58 at Walmart and $4.29 at Target (at the time of this writing). 

Ice cream is not the only product to avoid purchasing at Walgreens. The chain also seems to mark up the prices of food items that can easily be found for lower prices in grocery stores, like coffee grounds and ketchup. Comparing prices online before shopping may save a potential customer a lot of money just by avoiding Walgreens' more expensive food items.

However, many choose Walgreens for its convenient location and accessible hours. On top of this, some products also may only be available at Walgreens, like any item under the Walgreens-exclusive "Nice!" brand, which Walgreens describes as "high quality Walgreens branded products [sold] at a great price." This store brand is actually home to many fan-favorite products, like Walgreens' recently viral Peelable Mango Gummy Candy (those interested in this candy could also make their own peelable mango gummy candy at home). But unless a shopper is specifically looking for a "Nice!" product, it may be time to head to a different store with better prices for that late night snack.