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Walgreens plans to close 1,200 US stores. This is where the closure of your local drugstores begins


Walgreens plans to close 1,200 US stores. This is where the closure of your local drugstores begins

Walgreens Boots Alliance will close additional stores over the next three years.

The popular drugstore chain announced during its fourth-quarter earnings call on October 15 that it plans to close 1,200 stores nationwide by 2028.

Despite beating fourth-quarter sales and profit expectations, about 14% of its 8,600 U.S. stores are closing, starting in 2025 with 500 locations.

According to CBS News, Walgreens is trying to reduce costs but plans to relocate affected employees to nearby stores.

The company did not disclose a list of locations it plans to close, but “it will prioritize underperforming stores where the property is owned by the company or whose leases are expiring,” according to AP.

The supermarket's cost-cutting moves come as several chains, including Rite Aid and CVS, face similar industry-wide issues, including low drug reimbursement rates, higher costs, reduced consumer spending, increasing theft and customers turning to online shopping. Additionally, according to CBS News, many “Americans have lost their health insurance since the end of a pandemic policy that guaranteed Medicaid coverage during the public health emergency.”

“The closure of so many stores is emblematic of a company that is in trouble and trying to correct its course,” GlobalData CEO Neil Saunders told CBS News. “Walgreens has spent years building its business through acquisitions while completely neglecting the fundamentals of its stores and retail operations.”

Walgreens began course-correcting in May by cutting prices on 1,300 products sold in its stores nationwide to attract frugal shoppers. In June, the company announced plans to close hundreds of its stores, then in July said it would close about 2,150 “poor-performing” locations by 2027.

CVS and Rite Aid have also closed stores to cut costs. The savings allowed Rite Aid to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early September after closing 131 stores this year.

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