Walgreens to close 1,200 U.S. stores, but impact on Chicago is unclear

Walgreens will close about 1,200 locations over the next three years as the drugstore chain seeks to turn around a struggling U.S. business that contributed to a $3 billion quarterly loss. It's not clear yet how Chicago stores will be affected, as the company didn't say where it would close stores.

The company lists 99 Chicago stores on its website. A North Lawndale store at 3401 W. Roosevelt Road already is scheduled to close Nov. 12, according to social media posts last month by Ald. Monique Scott (24th).

The company operates about 8,500 stores in the United States and a few thousand overseas. All of the stores that will be closed are in the United States.

Company shares soared Tuesday after the company detailed the plan and reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

Walgreens said about 500 stores will close this fiscal year and should immediately support earnings and free cash flow.

Company leaders said the initial wave of closings will take place mostly in the back half of its fiscal year, which started last month.

Walgreens will prioritize closing poor-performing stores where the property is owned by the company, or where leases are expiring. In June, when the company said closures were coming CEO Tim Wentworth also said stores close together and stores dealing with thefts could be targets.

Wentworth told analysts Tuesday that the majority of its stores, or about 6,000, are profitable and provide the company with a foundation to build on.

“This solid base supports our conviction in a retail pharmacy led model that is relevant to our consumers, and we intend to invest in these stores over the next several years,” said Wentworth, who became CEO nearly a year ago.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., the drugstore chain's parent company, said in late June that they were finalizing a turnaround plan in the United States, and that it may lead to hundreds of store closings.

The plan announced Tuesday includes 300 store closures approved under a previous cost-cutting plan.

Wentworth said the Walgreens stores that remain will help the company respond more quickly to shifting consumer behavior and buying patterns.

Yet even the Walgreens stores that are performing well are not immune to broader challenges facing traditional drugstore chains, such as intensifying pressure from online outlets and dollar stores, said Neil Saunders, managing director of consulting and data analysis firm GlobalData.

“All these things have the potential to undercut store performance and Walgreens needs to ensure that this does not happen,” Saunders said. “If it doesn’t, the latest slate of store closures will not be the last, and Walgreens will enter the dangerous spiral of being an ever-shrinking business.”

Walgreens, like its competitors, has struggled for years with tight reimbursement for the prescriptions it sells as well as the rising costs of operating stores.

Rival CVS Health Corp. is closing 900 stores. Another major chain, Rite Aid Corp., emerged from bankruptcy protection this year after whittling its store count down to about 1,300 locations.

Saunders said that the latest round of closures will raise concerns about emerging pharmacy deserts, parts of the country where people don't have access to a drugstore.

Walgreens also has been backing away from a plan to add primary care clinics next to some stores after an aggressive expansion under previous CEO Rosalind Brewer.

The Deerfield company said in August that it was reviewing its U.S. health care business, and it might sell all or part of its VillageMD clinic business. That announcement came less than two years after the company said it would spend billions to expand it.

The company began the year buy cutting the dividend it pays shareholders to raise cash. Six months later, it slashed its forecast for 2024.

Walgreens said Tuesday that its net loss swelled to more than $3 billion in the final quarter of the year, dragged down by U.S. retail and pharmacy sales. It also booked some hefty charges tied to opioid litigation settlements the company had recognized in previous quarters and an equity investment in China.

Adjusted per-share earnings actually topped Wall Street expectations by 3 cents and its quarterly revenue of $35.75 billion easily surpassed analyst projections by nearly $2 billion, according to FactSet.

But Walgreens lost a whopping $8.64 billion this fiscal year, more than $10 per share for investors.

The company said Tuesday that it expects adjusted earnings in the new fiscal year to fall between $1.40 and $1.80 per share, with growth in its U.S. health care and international businesses countering the U.S. retail pharmacy decline.

For the fiscal 2025, analysts expect adjusted earnings of $1.72 per share.

Walgreens shares jumped more than 13%, or $1.20, to $10.20 after markets opened Tuesday.

The stock had shed nearly two thirds of its value so far this year, falling to $9 as of Monday’s close.

A Chicago Sun-Times reporter contributed to this story.