Menasha Opens 'Center of Retail Excellence' Near Walgreens

Menasha Packaging, a subsidiary of Menasha Corp., is moving its designated Walgreens account team to a new Health Care/Self Care Center of Retail Excellence in Northbrook, Illinois. The location will combine dedicated Walgreens-experienced project managers and new category data analysts with the Chicago-based Menasha/Walgreens design team. The office is located less than six miles from Walgreens' headquarters in Deerfield.

Colleen Wills, Menasha’s director of business development for Walgreens, says the move was prompted by a desire to foster improved collaboration between Menasha and Walgreens to provide an enhanced focus on category data, brand benchmarking and speed to innovation for consumer packaged goods companies supplying Walgreens.

"This location enhances what we deliver to both Walgreens and the CPG community," Wills said in a news release. "We have dedicated, in-house project managers to focus on optimizing the front end of the merchandising process, taking weeks out of the typical process. By having project managers and designers at the same location, we can go from concept to design to customer sample very quickly. Our expanded team focused on category data and analytics will also help us work with merchants to create greater operational efficiencies for Walgreens and its customers.

"It's important to understand the categories and how your brands are executing compared to the competition. We have invested in new approaches to category data and competitive benchmarking that will be revolutionary, and the data tells us how to best allocate valuable merchandising dollars. We are excited to host these kinds of discussions in our new space!"

Said Paul Murphy, Menasha VP, retail strategy and sales: "It's critical to invest in meaningful relationships with customers like Walgreens so we not only speak in the same language, but our solutions address the needs and strategies of both Walgreens and our customers. This helps close the gaps between intent and execution so retailers can win more broadly while improving speed and reducing waste."