Walgreens says cooler screens caught fire and showed the wrong prices in its stores

• Walgreens said that screens on some of its cooler doors caught fire and malfunctioned.
• Cooler Screens, the company behind the displays, planned to roll out the screens in hundreds of Walgreens locations.

Screens Walgreens installed on some of its in-store coolers allegedly caught on fire, according to documents filed in a lawsuit.

The screens, made by a company called Cooler Screens, are designed to show what's inside refrigerated and frozen coolers at stores while playing ads to shoppers as they pass by. Walgreens had authorized Cooler Screens to install the technology in 700 stores, according to the Wall Street Journal.

But some of the screens had problems. Some "sparked and caught fire," according to the Journal. Others displayed the wrong prices for items or were wrong about which items were in-stock, the Journal reported, citing court documents filed by Walgreens. Others just went dark entirely.

TikTok users have posted videos over the past couple of years showing problems with Cooler Screens displays at stores.

"We always strive to provide the best possible customer experience, and we terminated our contract with Cooler Screens earlier this year due to their failure to meet contractual obligations," Walgreens said in a statement to Insider. "We look forward to the Court deciding our claims."

Cooler Screens sued Walgreens in June, saying the retailer violated its contract with the startup.

Walgreens did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on its allegations in the lawsuit.

Cooler Screens told Insider that the issues were caused by "Walgreens' outdated and poorly maintained electrical system."

It also pointed to former Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer's skepticism of the screens. Brewer allegedly compared Cooler Screens' product to "'Vegas' in a derogatory way," the Journal reported.

"Walgreens' former CEO simply didn't like the appearance of the doors, an opinion that was not shared by other senior management of the company," the company told Insider.

Cooler Screens also had a partnership with CVS, the US's other major drugstore chain. That partnership has also ended, a spokesperson for CVS told Insider last month. The spokesperson did not cite a reason.

Update October 2, 2023: This story has been updated with new comment from Walgreens.