Soon, many Walgreens stores are likely to disappear as Walgreens announced on Thursday that a “significant” number of its 8,600 stores will be closed to improve Walgreens’ position. Among these, the 25% that are unprofitable will likely be first on the chopping block, which means several hundred or perhaps even over a thousand stores could be closed soon. On this news, Walgreens’ stock fell over 20%, down almost 55% year to date.
However, Walgreens isn’t alone in its ongoing struggle. Other pharmacy companies like CVS and Rite Aid have closed hundreds of stores in recent years, with Rite Aid even going bankrupt. Some reasons for this decline in the pharmacy industry are lower spending from consumers due to inflation and lower profits from pharmaceutical operations.
Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth even went so far as to say “We are at a point where the current pharmacy model is not sustainable”. However, he remains positive about the future of Walgreens despite its and the industry’s ongoing issues.