I'm Lydia Hu and this is the Fox Business Run Down.

Monday, October 21st, 2024.

Walgreens plans to shutter 1,200 of its U.S. stores and it's not alone.

Other major pharmacy chains also stare down closures and scale backs. The days of finding a

brick and mortar on every corner may be becoming a thing of the past. The

lines have kind of been blurred on what Walgreens and CVS were meant to do.

So it's not so much that it's people's neighborhood convenience store anymore.

It almost seemed like we're there if you need us, but the price is going to cost you.

Walgreens announced last week that the chain plans to close 1,200 of its stores.

That means about one in seven of their locations will be gone in the next year following the trend of

CVS which is also closing 900 of their stores and Rite Aid which is closed over

500 stores after filing for bankruptcy last year.

The CEO of Walgreens, Tim Wentworth, told the Wall Street Journal this summer, quote,

we are at the point where the current pharmacy model is not

sustainable. So what's to blame for all the closures? The pharmacies point to

several issues. Consumer habits are changing before consumers filled prescriptions and then bought other health,

hygiene and beauty products at the same store. Now e-commerce giants have made it more convenient

and in many instances cheaper. Also drugstore chains say profits

suffer because reimbursement rates are squeezed by pharmacy benefit managers. We'll start first with the announced closures and

the shock it might have for American consumers. It's definitely safe to call

this a trend. What we're learning is that Walgreens is now the third of the major

pharmacies in the last five years to announce a major shakeup. Kelly

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