Walgreens to close 1,200 US stores

Walgreens plans to close 1,200 locations of its 12,500 global stores over three years as part of a cost-cutting strategy. The company will start closing 500 stores in 2025.

The decision affects about 13% of the pharmacy chain’s 8,700 US locations. It is part of CEO Tim Wentworth’s larger effort to cut costs and focus more on the pharmacy business.

While Walgreens cut $1 billion in expenses last year, it still reported a substantial loss of $3 billion in the previous quarter, indicating tough times ahead.

It reported a net loss of $8.6 billion despite total sales of $147.7 billion. Pharmacy sales grew by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, but retail sales dropped by 3.5%.

Walgreens has closed over 2,000 stores in the past decade, following trends by CVS and Rite Aid, which have also shuttered locations.

The closures reflect challenges other drugstore chains face, including intense competition from online retailers like Amazon. They also blame decreasing prescription reimbursement rates for shuttering.

Following the announcement, Walgreens’ stock rose nearly 16%.