Walgreens Closing 1,200 Stores: See Impact On RI Locations

RHODE ISLAND — More than 1,200 Walgreens stores will close over the next three years as the struggling drug store chain attempts to complete a successful financial turnaround. The company announced Tuesday that about 500 of the closures will occur in the current fiscal year, which began in September.

Walgreens did not reveal which locations will be shuttered. The chain has about 8,500 stores in the United States and has stores in 23 communities across Rhode Island.

The closures were announced as the Deerfield, Illinois-based 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 significant 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."

According to the Walgreens website, the chain's Rhode Island locations are in:

• Bristol
• Coventry
• Cranston
• Cumberland
• East Providence
• Johnston
• Middletown
• Narragansett
• North Kingstown
• North Providence
• North Scituate
• North Smithfield
• Pawtucket
• Portsmouth
• Providence
• Richmond
• Riverside
• Rumford
• Tiverton
• Warwick
• Westerly
• West Warwick
• Woonsocket.

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