Rite Aid to close: Walgreens looking at cuts but no locations announced
Walgreens looking at cut but no locations announced
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From staff and wire reports
The Rite Aid pharmacy at 301 Greene St. is closing.
Signs announcing the closure are visible around the property and on the building itself. They do not indicate when the last day will be.
Employees contacted at the store Thursday directed questions to the corporate media department, which did not return a message seeking comment.
Rite Aid is in the midst of a bankruptcy reorganization announced in October. The Associated Press reported at that time that the process would allow the company to speed up plans to close underperforming stores, but it was not immediately clear Thursday whether the Marietta location fell into that category or if the impending closure is related to the bankruptcy.
Also on Thursday, Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth announced to analysts that "changes are imminent" for about a quarter of the company's 2,100 stores, the AP reported. A "significant portion" of those underperforming stores could be closed if improvements aren't made, he said.
It's not known at this time if any Mid-Ohio Valley Walgreens locations will be affected. A spokeswoman who provided a statement from the company Thursday said a list of stores would be premature.
"We are repositioning our store footprint for the future," the statement said. "Approximately 25% of Walgreens stores are not contributing to our long-term strategy. We're finalizing an optimization program that we expect will include closing a significant portion of these locations over the next three years. We are also taking a series of actions and making investments to enhance the customer and patient experience."
The AP noted that Walgreens and major competitors like CVS and Rite Aid have been closing stores as they adjust to an array of challenges to their businesses, including years of tight reimbursement for their prescriptions and rising costs for running their locations.