Walgreens was originally founded in 1901, in Chicago, as a single store company. Today, they are the second largest drugstore chain in the nation with approximately 5,200 stores in 45 states; however, they are the leader in the industry in terms of sales. In 2005, Walgreens generated 42.2 billion dollars in sales. This figure is a milestone in that it marks the 31st year that Walgreens has set a sales record for the industry. At $46 per square foot, Walgreens averages twice the sales per square foot than their competitors. In light of this success, they project 7,000 stores by 2010. (DSN Retailing Today, 6/12/06) Walgreens expands through organic growth. They prefer to build, or rebuild their own stores and as a result, the average Walgreens store is six years old.(MMR,5/8/2006) The Walgreen chain of pharmacies offers prescription and non-prescription drugs.