Walgreens Is Closing Hundreds Of Locations, Will The 145 In Massachusetts Survive?
Of the 450 locations Walgreens plans on closing over the next year, 150 of them are in the United States. The other 300 are in the United Kingdom.
CNN reported that Walgreens Boots Alliance CFO James Kehoe gave this update on the company’s earnings call earlier this week. “The company is facing muted consumer spending and a pullback in demand for Covid vaccines.”
Though the company did not reveal which stores or markets will be impacted here, the 150 closures are expected to be completed by the end of August of 2024. Walgreens currently has approximately 9,000 stores in the country. One thousand of them came between 2012 and 2022, as store number 8,000 opened in Los Angeles just 11 years ago.
Other notable points from the earnings call was that Walgreens eliminated 10% of its workforce. That is estimated to be roughly 500 roles and a first step in Walgreens now closing locations.
CNN reported further that Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer said the company was increasing its cost-savings efforts to $4.1 billion and “taking immediate actions to optimize profitability for our US healthcare segment.”
Ultimately, their initiative is to build a “pharmacy of the future.”
There Are Still 145 Walgreens In Massachusetts
Although Walgreens will be closing hundreds of stores shortly, here in Massachusetts, we still have locations all over the state. In fact, there are a total of 145. As you’d expect the most densely populated area is the greater Boston region with over 30 stores. This includes towns such as Revere, Dorchester, and Malden.
History
Walgreens was founded back in 1901. It was a Chicago-based drug store and was considered a highly reputable place to get what you needed. Over its first 12 years, it grew to four stores throughout the south side of the Chicago area.
The company still has its roots in Illinois, with its headquarters in Deerfield. In 2002, Walgreens became the first pharmacy to offer prescription labels in multiple languages. They also now offer online shopping.
You can find the full list of Wallgreens stores in Massachusetts here.
