Walgreens to Close 600 Stores

Walgreens Boots Alliance released its fiscal year results yesterday, soundly beating Wall Street expectations. The company delivered net earnings of $5.5 billion, up 9.9% on the previous year. US same store sales for the quarter were up 3.1% making it three quarters out of four with positive comp sales for the year. After the company’s earnings call, though, all of the attention was focused on the company’s announcement that it will close approximately 600 stores as it works through the deal to acquire 1,900 Rite Aid locations.

According to Co-COO Alex Gourlay, most of the closings will begin next spring and take place over the subsequent 18 months. During the call, Gourlay noted that the vast majority of the closures will be Rite Aid stores located within one mile of an existing Walgreens (or Duane Reade). The decision was made after a location-by-location review of the company’s post-acquisition footprint.

A list of store closings has yet to be released. The figure below details current locations by banner for the two companies. With daily updates to our drug store and locations databases, Chain Store Guide clients and customers will be among the first to receive quantifiable information as it becomes through CSG research and company reports.