DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. here said yesterday that it is expanding its use of RFID tags that track in-store displays to determine if they have been deployed and to assess their effectiveness. Walgreen said that within the next 12 months the retailer plans to roll out the system, from Goliath Solutions, also based here, to its 5,693 U.S. stores in 48 states and Puerto Rico. The system is currently in 1,000 Walgreens stores, and involves 18 of the chain's suppliers of cough drops, shampoo, cosmetics, candy and other consumer goods. "We believe [the Walgreens initiative] is the largest such use of radio frequency identification tags in the retail industry," said Bob Michelson, chief executive officer, Goliath Solutions, in a statement.

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