Walgreens has set in motion a wave of store closures across New York, New Jersey, and 15 additional states, in a tactical retreat aimed to help the pharmacy leader reconstruct its business. As previously indicated in October, Walgreens is closing approximately 1,200 of its U.S. stores, a decision spurred by persistent struggles to weather regulatory and reimbursement headwinds. The shuttering will involve locations in some of the nation's bustling locales, including a clutch of stores each in California, Colorado, Connecticut, and more. While the initial phase is set to result in over 50 stores disappearing from community landscapes as soon as next week, the remainder will draw their final curtains by late June, as WGNTV reports.
The phasing out of these fixtures in local health care delivery has pushed Walgreens to offer guidance to affected customers on how to seamlessly transfer their prescriptions to surviving sister locations. "This location will permanently close on May 22. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may cause," reads a banner on the East Haven Walgreens in Connecticut, according to a detailed analysis by WGNTV, which has tracked these farewell messages on the company's location pages. With East Haven's closure imminent, customers are directed to further information to help carry on their access to medicines undisturbed. Walgreens, which holds over 8,000 stores in its portfolio, has assured that they will "do everything possible to improve their performance" when announcing the closures, hoping to mitigate the disruption to communities and health care continuity.
In New York and New Jersey specifically, the retail pharmacist will see the shutdown of cherished sites in both Brooklyn and Cherry Hill, among others, as disclosed by PIX11. The closures span from Middletown on Fitzgerald Drive to the iconic Duane Reade on Lexington Avenue, each with its own penned date for closure.
