Walgreens has announced that over the next three years, it plans to close 1,200 stores across the United States, with 500 locations closing in 2025 alone.
The closure plan from the Chicago-based pharmacy chain is supposed to help slash around $1 billion in costs for the company, which has been struggling as of late. Walgreens shared with its analysts on Tuesday that one in four of its stores are unprofitable.
Nationwide, the company operates around 8,700 locations, and while the closures were first announced in June, it was not shared how many would be closed at the time. Walgreens had estimated it could shutter up to a quarter of its stores.
Record high inflation mixed with consumers being pickier about where they spend their dollars has resulted in the perfect storm for Walgreens at a time when drug reimbursement rates also fell.
Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth unveiled the changes in a statement this week, marking his latest efforts to try and right the ship. Other changes included the removal of multiple mid-level executives.
“This turnaround will take time, but we are confident it will yield significant financial and consumer benefits over the long term,” Wentworth said in a statement.