Walgreens is Closing 200 Stores Across United States, Here’s Why

United States’ 2nd largest drug stores brand, Walgreen, is closing about 3% of its more than 10,000 stores across the U.S. The company announced on Monday.

The company has not yet announced which locations it will be shuttering.

“Given that we have multiple locations in many markets, we anticipate minimal disruption to customers and patients,” Jim Cohn, senior director for corporate media relations, told the local media, TODAY. “We also anticipate being able to retain the majority of the impacted store team members in other nearby locations.” he added.

The closure is the latest move by the brand which recently an announced shutdown of 200 stores in the U.K. According to CNBC, Walgreens closed another 20 stores in 2015. Additionally in 2018, the chain’s parent company, the Walgreens Boots Alliance, bought 1,932 Rite Aid locations. Since then, 631 of those locations have been closed and another 119 are expected to be shut down.

By closing the stores, the brand is hoping to save $1.5 billion in annual expenses by fiscal 2022 in what it’s calling the “transformational cost management program.” Walgreens expects to record a $1.9 billion to $2.4 billion earnings hit related to real estate, severance and other costs, it said in a regulatory filing.

“As previously announced, we are undertaking a transformational cost management program to accelerate the ongoing transformation of our business, enable investments in key areas and to become a more efficient enterprise,” the company said in a statement.

Disruption among customers and patients where they are shopping more online and less in stores have resulted to pharmacies in the U.S to close thousands of stores.

Reports by local media indicate that 8,139 stores were closed in 2017 while more than 7,000 stores have already closed in 2019.

TODAY reports that major retailers have announced closings including Topshop, which will close all of its U.S. locations, Party City, which will close 45 locations, and Gap, which will shutter more than 230 stores over the next two years. Shopping staples like Bath and Body Works, Victoria’s Secret, and Abercrombie & Fitch are also downsizing. Popular retailers like Payless and Dressbarn have filed for bankruptcy and will be closing all of their stores.