Connecticut Losing 2 More Walgreens Locations

CONNECTICUT — Walgreens is set to shutter two Connecticut locations this spring, one on the same street as a store that closed late last year.

Walgreens spokesman Fraser Engerman Wednesday confirmed the store at 161 Washington St. in Hartford will close on March 18 as well as the store. That announcement comes on the heels of a declaration about week ago that the store at 436 Whalley Ave. in New Haven will close on March 20.

Said Engerman, "Our retail pharmacy business is central to our go-forward business strategy. However, increased regulatory and reimbursement pressures are weighing on our ability to cover the costs associated with rent, staffing, and supply needs. It is never an easy decision to close a store. We know that our stores are important to the communities that we serve, and therefore do everything possible to improve the store performance.

"When closures are necessary, like these in Hartford and New Haven we will work in partnership with community stakeholders to minimize customer disruptions. We intend to redeploy the majority of our team members from those stores that we close"

The Whalley Avenue store represents the second on that street to be designated for closure. In December, Walgreens designated the store on the 1400 block for shuttering. Also in December, the closure of the store at 25 East High St. in East Hampton was announced.

Back then, Connecticut had 93 Walgreens stores. The closures were announced as part of a plan to trim "certain underperforming stores" off its roster as part of a "significant multiyear footprint optimization program."

The announcement was made following the release of the Illinois-based Walgreens Boots Alliance third-quarter earnings report. In that report, Walgreens executives said the company is "launching a U.S. retail pharmacy action plan to invest in and deliver an improved customer and patient experience across channels" while "simplifying and focusing the U.S. Healthcare portfolio."

According to the earnings report, companywide sales increased 2.6 percent from the year-ago quarter to $36.4 billion, an increase of 2.5 percent on a constant currency basis, "reflecting sales growth across all segments."

The company also lowered its fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings per share guidance to $2.80 to $2.95 to reflect "challenging pharmacy industry trends and a worse-than-expected U.S. consumer environment."