Breaking News: Walgreens Closing 1,200 Stores

In June of this year, Walgreens announced that they were working on a plan to close unprofitable stores. At the time, the scope of the closures was unknown. Now we know that the company will be closing 1,200 stores, more than 10% of their total U.S. footprint. The closures will not all be immediate and instead are expected to take place over the next three years. Al least 500 stores will be closed in fiscal 2025.

Walgreens has categorized these locations as underperforming due to the lack of consumer spending. Walgreens is not the only company to be hit by this trend, yet it is rare for such a large chain to close so many stores. The company hired a new CEO, Tim Wentworth, last year and his strategy has been to pare back the business and focus on retail pharmacy. These 1,200 closures are part of his strategy to cut costs, the company attempted to cut 1 billion in costs last fiscal year.

The 1,200 stores account for a substantial number of employees. It is unclear what the fate of those employees will be, yet their CEO has said that the displaced workforce will be redeployed.

It is not yet known where the 1,200 stores are located, yet the company will likely release a list as these closures become finalized over time. CEO Wentworth has revealed in the past that around 25% of the company’s stores do not turn a profit. Not all of those locations are due to be shuttered, yet he is keeping a close watch on changing consumer habits and there is the possibility that the company will close even more locations than already reported.