Business & Tech

East Hampton Walgreens Now Closed As Chain Trims Store Roster

Walgreens is closing about 500 stores this fiscal year and East Hampton has been affected.

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A pair of Walgreens locations in Connecticut have gone dark, including one that leaves East Hampton customers seven miles from the nearest store.
A pair of Walgreens locations in Connecticut have gone dark, including one that leaves East Hampton customers seven miles from the nearest store. (Chris Dehnel/Patch)

EAST HAMPTON, CT — The East Hampton Walgreens store has been shuttered as part of a plan to cut the chain's roster by 500 in the current fiscal year.

Two stores in Connecticut have gone dark — at 1471 Whalley Ave. in New Haven and at 25 East High St. in East Hampton.

In all, more than 1,200 Walgreens stores will close over the next three years as part of a financial turnaround plan, announced in the company's fourth-quarter earnings report.

Find out what's happening in East Hampton-Portlandfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

When the plan was first announced in June and updated in October, Walgreens did not reveal which locations will be affected. The chain at the time had about 8,500 stores in the United States and more than 70 in Connecticut.

The two Connecticut locations were certainly done. Store locator searches for the 1471 Whalley Ave. store in New Haven indicated the location was "permanently closed" and calls to the store were diverted to the 88 York St. store, which also confirmed the Whalley Avenue closure.

Find out what's happening in East Hampton-Portlandfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

In addition to York Street, Walgreens also has stores at 436 Whalley Ave. and 87 Foxon St. in New Haven.

Calls to the East Hampton location were diverted to the store at 227 Main St. in Portland. A staffer said that is now — at 7.1 miles away — the closest Walgreens for East Hampton residents. Other options for East Hampton customers are at 311 East Main St. in Middletown (7.3 miles away), 27 Broadway in Colchester (8.7 miles away) and at 633 Washington St. in Middletown (8.9 miles away).

Illinois-based Walgreens reported a fourth-quarter loss of $3 billion. Still, Walgreens officials remained optimistic about the chain's long-term survival prospects.

"This turnaround will take time, but we are confident it will yield significant financial and consumer benefits over the long term," Walgreens Chief Executive Officer Tim Wentworth said in comments accompanying the earning report.

Like New Haven, some Connecticut towns have multiple Walgreens locations. Towns in the state with Walgreens stores include:

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