Walgreens closures sparks Bay Area concerns over prescription access

Mark Sayre
Tue, October 15, 2024

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Walgreens announced on Tuesday it will be closing more than a thousand locations nationwide. While Walgreens did not release a list of specific store closures, some Bay Area customers are becoming increasingly concerned about access to prescriptions and other medications.

Customers say it is very convenient to have a pharmacy close by and some expressed concern about losing access to pharmacists. Walgreens is one of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains currently with about 8,500 stores. During an earnings call on Tuesday, the company announced it would be closing 1,200 of those locations over the next several years.

In San Jose, Walgreens customer Robert Crawley said he values his local Walgreens and appreciates the in-person contact with the pharmacists. "They are really friendly back there. They don’t feel like they are above nobody. You know what I mean? They will take the time to help you basically," Crawley said.

During the earnings call, Walgreens said the closures will allow the remaining stores to more quickly respond to changing consumer behavior. "I think pharmacies are very convenient and they have a lot of materials you can get in there very conveniently," said Portia Gage, who was waiting out a bus stop just outside the Walgreens location on East Santa Clara Street in San Jose.

Analysts say competition from online marketplaces and dollar stores are likely behind the planned Walgreens closures. "I think one of the biggest challenges is really economic pressure on the prescription business. So I think reimbursements have really gone down and it's much more difficult to make money from that segment," said Neil Saunders, Managing Director of Globaldata.

The Walgreens announcement comes on the heels of an announcement earlier this year from rival CVS that it will be closing about 900 of its stores. All of this potentially making access to pharmacy products – and pharmacists – more challenging.

"I live right there. It is really easy to pick up. So it is kind of sad that they are closing them," said Angel Diaz, a Walgreens customer.

Walgreens operates more than 550 stores in California, the second most in any state behind Florida. A Walgreens spokesperson told KTVU the company did not have any additional information to share about the stores potentially planned for closure.