Walgreens Closing 1,200 Stores: How Will IL Locations Be Affected?

ILLINOIS — More than 1,200 Walgreens stores will close over the next three years as the struggling drugstore chain headquartered in Deerfield attempts to complete a successful financial turnaround.

The company announced Tuesday that about 500 of the closures would occur in the current fiscal year, which began in September.

Walgreens did not reveal which locations would be shuttered. The chain has over 8,500 stores in the United States and nearly 550 in Illinois, including more than 100 in Chicago, according to the web data company ScrapeHero.

The closures were announced as the company 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 CEO Tim Wentworth said in a statement.

Walgreens announced in June that a number of stores would be closing. At the time, Wentworth said, "We continue to face a difficult operating environment, including persistent pressures on the U.S. consumer and the impact of recent marketplace dynamics, which have eroded pharmacy margins."

For a list of cities with Walgreens locations in Illinois, visit the company's website.