Walgreens will close about 1,200 locations over the next three years as the drugstore chain seeks to turnaround a struggling U.S. business, reported the Associated Press.
“The company said Tuesday that about 500 stores will close in the current fiscal year. … Walgreens will prioritize poor-performing stores where the property is owned by the company, or where leases are expiring,” according to the AP.
Walgreens operates about 8,500 stores in the United States and a few thousand overseas. All the stores that will be closed are in the United States.
Chief Executive Tim Wentworth said about a quarter of the company’s stores are unprofitable. According to NPR, “CVS and Walgreens are facing tough competition from pharmacies that don’t depend as much on profits from prescriptions because they’re part of retail giants, including Walmart and Costco. The drugstore chains also have spent millions of dollars on government fines over allegations of unsafe staffing levels, overbilling government insurance programs, and contributing to the opioid epidemic.”
Even the Walgreens stores that are performing well are not immune to broader challenges facing traditional drugstore chains, such as intensifying pressure from online outlets and dollar stores, said Neil Saunders, managing director of consulting and data analysis firm GlobalData.
Full story Walgreens Set to Close 1,200 Stores | NACS (convenience.org)
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