Pharmacy chain Walgreens announced it will shut down 1,200 stores across the United States over the next three years.
Closures of Walgreens stores were announced in June, but the company had not disclosed the number of affected stores at that time. It had more than 8,000 stores in the United States as of Aug. 31 last year.
In a statement, the company said that as part of a “footprint optimization program,” there will be about 1,200 closures around the country until 2027. That includes about 500 store closures in the fiscal year 2025, which will “immediately” provide the company with some “free cash flow.”
“Our financial results in the fiscal fourth quarter and full year 2024 reflected our disciplined execution on cost management, working capital initiatives and capex reduction,” Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth said in the statement….