Walgreens closing 5 stores on South and West sides

Walgreens will close five Chicago stores next month, part of the Deerfield-based pharmacy chain’s plan to shutter 1,200 locations by 2027.

In October, the company announced it would prioritize shutting poor-performing stores owned by the company, or locations where the leases are expiring. Walgreens said last week that it shuttered 70 locations in its first quarter, as it reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings. It plans to close 500 stores during its fiscal year, which began in September.

A Walgreens spokesperson on Wednesday said in an emailed statement: “Our retail pharmacy business is central to our go-forward business strategy. However, increased regulatory and reimbursement pressures are weighing on our ability to cover the costs associated with rent, staffing and supply needs.”

The Chicago locations are scheduled to close Feb. 17-27. They include:

• 7111 S. Western Ave. in West Englewood
• 4005 W. 26th St. in Little Village
• 9148 S. Commercial Ave. in South Chicago
• 3405 S. King Drive in Bronzeville
• 7109 S. Jeffery Blvd. in South Shore

Walgreens said it intends to move workers at the shuttered Chicago stores to other locations.

“It is never an easy decision to close a store. We know that our stores are important to the communities that we serve, and therefore do everything possible to improve the store performance. When closures are necessary, like those here in Chicago, we will work in partnership with community stakeholders to minimize customer disruptions,” the company said.

Fourth Ward Ald. Lamont Robinson said closing the store at 3405 S. King Drive “is going to be devastating to the Bronzeville community, particularly our seniors who rely on it for their pharmacy. I’m saddened that Walgreens had decided to close this store after more than 50-plus years.”

People also rely on the store for food as well, he added.

“We have to figure out a way to put profits aside and invest in communities on the South and West sides,” Robinson said. “When Walgreens has stores across the city, they should be able to keep stores in predominantly African American communities on the South and West sides. That should be good business sense.”

Robinson said, “We’re seeing this with grocers and national chains, not only in Chicago, but across the country, closing stores in predominantly African American communities. Something needs to be done about that. It should be people over profits.”

Ald. Peter Chico (10th), whose ward includes the South Chicago site, said the closing is “disappointing and troubling at the same time. Obviously, I’m disappointed, especially for seniors in the South Chicago community who rely on Walgreens to fill their prescriptions.”

There are two Walgreens still open in his ward, but several constituents have said that they are “hurt and frustrated, just like I am,” Chico said.

He said Walgreens closing stores on Chicago’s South and West sides “speaks to the overall disadvantages we have. We shouldn’t have to fight for basic resources and necessities and to live life. When you remove a pharmacy from a community — that has big impacts. Now we’re going to have to work together as a community to see where we go from here.”

Drugstores once occupied prime retail space across the U.S. but are now struggling. They’ve been battered by shrinking prescription reimbursement, persistent theft, rising costs and consumers who have moved to online retailers or competitors with better prices.

Walgreens rival CVS Health wrapped up a three-year plan to close 900 stores, and Rite Aid emerged from bankruptcy in September, shrinking to about 1,300 locations.

In October, Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth said the majority of its stores, about 6,000, are profitable and provide the company with a foundation to build on. It runs about 8,500 locations in the U.S and Puerto Rico, as well as a few thousand stores in Europe and Asia.

Wentworth said the remaining Walgreens stores will help the company respond more quickly to shifting consumer behavior and buying patterns. The company also is taking another look at what it sells and plans to offer more Walgreens-branded products.

More than 29% of the nearly 89,000 retail U.S. pharmacies that operated between 2010 and 2020 had closed by 2021, researchers said in a study published in December in Health Affairs. That amounts to more than 26,000 stores. Black and Latino neighborhoods were most vulnerable to the retail pharmacy closures, which can chip away at already limited care options in those communities.

Residents of neighborhoods that are largely Black and Latino have fewer pharmacies per capita than people who live in mostly white neighborhoods, according to an AP analysis. It’s consistent with prior research that documents where urban “pharmacy deserts” are more likely to be concentrated.

Contributing: AP