Countdown Begins For Large Pharmacy Chain To Close 4 More CT Stores

CONNECTICUT — Four Walgreens locations will be heading to the corporate gallows next week as the next wave of closures go into effect at the pharmacy chain.

The next stores be shuttered are:

• The Walgreens in East Hartford at 922 Silver Lane is slated to close on May 20. Customers will have an option of using the Walgreens at 20 Connecticut Boulevard.
• The Walgreens at 1350 Stanley Street in New Britain is scheduled to close on May 19. A store at 102 Washington St. will remain.
• In East Haven, the store at 157 Main Street is slated for a May 22 closure. The closest store would be in Branford, a store staffer said.
• In. New Milford, the Danbury Road location is slated to close on May 21. Customers are being directed to the Walgreens on Federal Road in Danbury.

The four stores are closing on the heels of the store at 161 Washington St. in Hartford being shuttered on March 18 and the store at 436 Whalley Ave. in New Haven closing on March 20.

The rash of closings comes in the wake of 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."

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."

Click here to see Walgreens' Connecticut lineup.

Walgreens spokesman Fraser Engerman told Patch earlier this spring that, "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, 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"

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."

Walgreens isn't the only large pharmacy chain trimming its roster. Customers of two Hartford CVS pharmacies now have to go elsewhere with their prescriptions as the company shut down two of the city's five stores. The CVS pharmacy at 690 Wethersfield Ave. closed on Feb. 21, while the one at 777 Main St. closed on March 11.

One Connecticut Rite Aid store was to close Thursday and two others will be closing next week and the following week, respectively, as the once-mighty pharmacy chain endures bankruptcy for the second time in less than two years.

The company listed liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion in a Chapter 11 petition filed in New Jersey bankruptcy court. The Connecticut locations appeared on a list Tuesday as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. The store in Cheshire at 180 Main St. closed on May 8, the store in Danbury at 113-115 Mill Plain Road was to close Wednesday and the store at Naugatuck at 56 Rubber Ave. is to close close the same day as one of Walgreens stores — on May 19.