Walgreens quietly makes a harsh store closure decision

Drugstores have faced a difficult dilemma over the past several years.

As giant competitors scale up their online operations and render many in-store services obsolete, brick and mortar incumbents struggle.

So drugstores like Walgreens must make a tough choice.

They can either close many or all stores, depending on how dire things are, or try to explore other opportunities — like going private or selling.

Walgreens is exploring all of the above.

The drugstore is in the process of going private with Sycamore Partners in a roughly $10 billion deal.

The process, which should take place by the end of 2025, has been no easy task.

It's involved closing a lot of stores. Over the past three years, Walgreens has closed roughly 1,200 struggling stores.

But it still maintains a big footprint.

Of the 8,700 stores that remain, about 6,000 turn a profit.

That's nearly 70% of stores, and Walgreens has a turnaround plan.

“We intend to invest in these stores over the next several years. Part of the funding for this investment will come from accelerating the closure of underperforming stores. Executing on this program will realign our footprint to a healthier store base that we believe will enable us to respond more dynamically to shifts in consumer behavior and buying preferences,” CEO Tim Wentworth said during the Q4 earnings call.

Walgreens is closing another store in Massachusetts.

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Walgreens closes another store

Walgreens is now closing another store permanently in Lowell, Massachusetts.

The store, which is located at Broadway & Fletcher Street, is tucked inside the Lowell Senior Center near a Market Basket grocery store, a bakery, liquor store, and pub.

The store's last day of operation is slotted for September 4, 2025.

Another Walgreens, located about a mile away on Merrimack Street in Lowell, is expected to stay open.

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This isn't Walgreens' first departure from Lowell, however.

In May 2025, another Walgreens store located just off the Lowell Connector in the Highlands area.

Nine Walgreens stores closed in Massachusetts between May and June 2025.

Walgreens trying to improve business

Walgreens is in the middle of a multiyear turnaround process.

The drugstore is trying to focus more on core basics, like drugs and pharmaceuticals, and less on tangential products or offerings that aren't as naturally connected to its business (like photo services).

It's also doing things to help it grow in the healthcare space in the long-term.

It's been carrying out initiatives such as:

Investing resources into medical services
Investing in research or services for vaccines and medications
Scaling up online and delivery services to compete with giants like Amazon.

“While our turnaround will take time, our early progress reinforces our belief in a sustainable, retail pharmacy-led operating model. Our focus is on our balance sheet. Sustained operating cash flows are front and center, and it’s a multiyear process to consistently and reliably deliver that. But we’re executing with urgency,” Wentworth told investors during the Q1 2025 earnings call.

Revenue was up over 4% year-over-year in Q1 2025, at $38.6 billion.