Walgreens to close about 200 U.S. stores: SEC filing

Walgreens plans to close about 200 U.S. stores, the company said in a Tuesday Securities and Exchange Commission filing. 

The announcement follows a review of the company’s “real estate footprint in the United States” as well as the planned closure of about 200 stores in the United Kingdom, the filing said. 

As of last year, Walgreens operated about 9,560 drugstores and employed about 240,000 people, according to its website. {mosads}

Spokesman Phil Caruso told The Hill in a statement that the company was undertaking a “transformational cost management program.”

He said the program would “accelerate the ongoing transformation of our business, enable investments in key areas” and allow the company to “become a more efficient enterprise.” 

“As part of this effort, we plan to close approximately 200 stores in the U.S.,” he added. 

Caruso said that Walgreens did not expect much disruption for customers because the company has multiple locations in many markets. He added that he believes the company will be able to retain most impacted team members at nearby locations. 

He said that the company did not currently plan to list which stores were closing and that he did not have information on specific locations.