In another business casualty from the Biden-Harris administration, Walgreens announced Tuesday that it would close roughly 1,200 locations over the next three years.
500 of the 8,500 Walgreens stores will close in the current fiscal year, the Associated Press reported, adding, “The company began the year by cutting the dividend it pays shareholders to raise cash. Six months later, it slashed its forecast for 2024.”
According to Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth, roughly 70% of the company’s stores are profitable. “This solid base supports our conviction in a retail pharmacy-led model that is relevant to our consumers, and we intend to invest in these stores over the next several years,” he said.
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Neil Saunders, managing director of consulting and data analysis firm GlobalData, argued that the profitable stores are not immune to financial concerns such as varying consumer behavior and buying patterns, arguing, “All these things have the potential to undercut store performance and Walgreens needs to ensure that this does not happen. If it doesn’t, the latest slate of store closures will not be the last and Walgreens will enter the dangerous spiral of being an ever-shrinking business.”
In June, Wentworth acknowledged the increase in theft from its stores, saying that Walgreens wanted cities to help by “investing in public safety so that our customers and employees feel safe.”
“The retail industry is going through a tough time as it copes with inflation-weary consumers and a rash of bankruptcies, prompting chains to announce the closures of almost 3,200 brick-and-mortar stores so far in 2024, according to a new analysis,” CBS News reported in May.
“Nearly 20,000 businesses have warned they’re at risk of closing if President Joe Biden is elected to a second term,” Newsweek stated in mid-May. “In a new report from RedBalloon and PublicSquare, nearly half of the 80,000 small businesses surveyed said they ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ will not survive another four years with Biden.”
“It’s been a difficult three years for America’s small businesses,” Michael Seifert, PublicSquare CEO, said. “While many inside the Beltway may feel like things are good, that isn’t translating to Main Street America—the frontlines of our small business economy.”
In March, Dollar Tree announced it would close roughly 1,000 stores and 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of 2024, and 370 Family Dollar and 30 Dollar Tree stores over the next few years.
In May 2023, Joshua Kobza, CEO of Restaurant Brands International Inc., which owns Burger King, said 300 to 400 U.S. Burger Kings would be closed by the end of 2023.
