Walgreens will close 1,200 underperforming stores by 2027, with 500 of the closures taking place in the next 12 months. The Deerfield-based drugstore chain is the latest Illinois corporation to announce major changes to their business operations.
While Walgreens hasn’t disclosed locations yet, those who frequent the stores for its pharmacy or grocery fear their go-to store could be on the list.
Christine Coleman, who lives in Chicago's East Garfield Park neighborhood, said the Walgreens at Madison and Western is convenient and essential to her neighborhood.
"We don't have a CVS or Target," Coleman said. "This Walgreens is it."
"Everything that happens like that happens to us first," said Karl Simmons, who also lives in the West Side neighborhood.
The announcement comes as both Walgreens and rival CVS are struggling to be profitable as consumers shift their spending habits.
In 2021, CVS said it would close about 900 stores. According to CNBC, a quarter of Walgreens' roughly 8,700 locations around the U.S. are unprofitable.
"It makes a lot of sense what they are doing," said Rich Hollander, managing partner at Axcelor, a consulting firm with a network of more than 40 retail executives. "I think they are three or four years behind the times."
Hollander said companies must change and adapt to stay in business.
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"If you're not making money in a store, and the store's been there a while, and the store has gone from making a lot of money to making no money … it's time to clean up your mess. And you know, they've been in business a long time, and they're going to be in business a long time more."
Coleman said she understands it's about the bottom line for businesses and they have to remain profitable, but she can't help but worry about her neighborhood and what could happen to her favorite Walgreens.
"My prescriptions are at Walgreens, and that is the only place I go right now," Coleman said. "And I don't want to do mail-order, but everything is Amazon and boxes. We are really in trouble out here right now."
