Walgreens announced Wednesday it will close 200 stores nationwide as part of a restructuring plan designed to reduce costs by $1.5 billion by the end of 2017.
In paperwork filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. referred to specifics of the restructuring plan announced in August 2014, explaining, “Significant areas of focus include plans to close approximately 200 stores across the USA; reorganize corporate and field operations; drive operating efficiencies; and streamline information technology and other functions. The actions under the restructuring program focus primarily on the Company’s Retail Pharmacy USA division, and are expected to be substantially completed by the end of fiscal 2017.”
Walgreens Boots Alliance is the name of the company formed after Walgreen Co. and Alliance Boots GmbH, a Swiss company, merged last year.
At the same time that it announced the store closures, the company also “wowed shareholders”
with its earnings report, according to USA Today. Second-quarter net earnings increased 33.2 percent, while over the same time period, sales jumped 35.5 percent to $26.6 billion.
A company press release attributed the large sales increase to the inclusion of Walgreens Boots Alliance sales in the figures for January and February.
A Walgreens spokesperson told USA Today that specific stores have not been selected for closure at this point, and they will not be located in “any specific geographic area.” In addition, a timeline for closing the stores has not yet been established.
A Walgreens press release said the Retail Pharmacy USA division, which includes Walgreens and Duane Reade retail pharmacy brands, saw second quarter sales of $21.0 billion, up 7.4 percent over the same quarter last year.
“The division opened 71 new drugstores in the first half of fiscal 2015, including 25 relocations, and closed 46 locations,” the release said. “At 28 February 2015, the division operated 8,232 drugstores across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
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