Walgreens to close 200+ stores

[coredumped]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/money/walgreens-shutters-200-us-stores/32278656

Who knew building a store on every corner wasn't sustainable :/

[simms3]

^^^That's a drop in the bucket for how many stores they have.  Doesn't really signify that their footprint is way too large, nor does it signify that they will be downsizing.  It's a minor trimming and won't be something major until they close *a lot* more stores.  In fact, many similar "sustainable" businesses might open 250-300 new stores a year and close another 200.  They have leases that run at 10-25 years for these stores.  After a decade of expansion, there are going to be many [more] Walgreens each year with leases coming due and if they aren't performers, why exercise any options to extend?

The comments section of News4Jax is full of bright minds who blindly apply the whole "internet taking over bricks and mortar" theme to a drug store/convenience store like Walgreens.  Fact remains that there is next to nothing in a typical Walgreens that you would get online.  To put them in the same mold as a Radioshack or Wet Seal (both mentioned in article) is stupidity.  Other commenters bring up America's high corporate tax rate (really? tell us more you simple-minded ponies).

Still other commenters complain about Walgreens' high prices.  Duh!  Slaps head on forehead.  Aside from being a pharmacy where a growing population picks up ever more pharmaceuticals prescribed to them, it's a convenience store - hence their frequent locations everywhere.  Of course you won't leave your house to do your grocery shopping at Walgreens, but I guarantee everyone has had to "run into Walgreens" to get something on the fly, and that explains the higher prices and the fact that they can and do carry a lot of items one can find in a grocery.

The biggest pressure Walgreens faces these days are companies like Walmart and Target opening up very similar stores.  2 blocks from my office is a new Target Express - ~20,000 sf and exactly like a Walgreens with a Target branding.  In fact, if the business of leasing and/or owning a gazillion 20,000 sf spaces around the country for pharma/convenience store offerings WEREN'T super profitable and a growing concept (sustainable at worst), then all of these other companies wouldn't be trying to enter that already highly competitive market.

Think people.  Think.

[spuwho]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/money/walgreens-shutters-200-us-stores/32278656

Who knew building a store on every corner wasn't sustainable :/

This is more about the absorption of Walgreens and their merger with Boots. They are called Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. now.

If one recalls, Walgreens tried to perform a corporate inversion with Boots, so they would be a foreign entity to avoid US taxes. After some serious backlash up on the hill they relented. Now they have to cut costs.

Pharma profits prop up Walgreens.  With the boomers needing record amounts of drugs, Walgreens has ridden the wave. But just like every generational wave, the boomers will start to die off and Walgreens will have to adapt as each generation stays healthier, longer.

Look for Walgreens to start experimenting with outpatient services similar to what Solantic was.

[VillageVicarage]

I think 'spuwho' may be right on the mark! As an Englishman, accustomed to having a Boots store within short steps of everywhere I walk,  the very same thing happened here in England. Boots closed a sizeable number of stores, only months later, opened up even more!

Also, there is now a strong move for diagnostic dispensing chemists, where your average Influenza, thrush, Bronchitis, chlamydia and run-of-the mill STD's are being dealt with by the chemist, rather than a trip to the doctor. For us here on 'Isle de la Pomme,' enjoying the benefits of free doctor visits, prescriptions, hospitalisation, eye care, and the occasional funeral, the benefits of moving some of the masses into the local Boots considerably helps reducing the often voluminous weight upon our physicians and local surgeries.

But I 'think' the substantial difference is that here in England, Boots revenue would be limited to the set National Health System negotiated price for prescription items, rather than the american profit-driven benefits of using a Walmart/Boots shop as an adjunct to a visit to your local doctor.  I'm rhetorically asking whether the dispensing chemist at Walmart would be compelled to 'recommend' a trade name product at a higher profit for Walmart, or could they offer generic brands to save the consumer/patient money?

I've realised for many years that in Britain, or on the Continent, we have access to a vast range of medications over the counter which are still strictly controlled in the usa. (Codeine based products come to mind instantly!)...  Would this new venture at Walmart mean consumers will have a broader and more relaxed access to regulated/controlled drugs?   It's possible that the positive aspects of providing the public a new avenue for accessing desperately needed health care (especially for children and the elderly), may open a rash of new challenges, such as misuse and abuse of these substances, ergo leading to more dire events?

Fr B+

http://bigworldsmallboat.blogspot.co.uk/2006/06/finding-right-words-of-comfort.html
http://bigworldsmallboat.blogspot.co.uk/2008_09_01_archive.html

[spuwho]

Walmart did look into having a public health clinic in all of their stores. They were going to have it be a part of their employee health benefits plans and extend low cost care to walk ins.

This way they could maintain benefits to their employees at a cheaper level than if they uswd their Walmart backed plan with an external private entity.

They felt this would improve productivity (less time spent to see doctor) and bring additional walkin revenue to the space.

They did test market it and for reasons that are not entirely clear the concept was dropped. It could be that the uptake rate on their own plan was so low it didnt justify  the expenditure.

Several "chemists" in South Africa now have public health nurses on staff. The SA government has been cutting back on public health budgets and with diagnostic care not yet affordable to all and with prevalnce of HIV, these nurses have been in the front lines of diagnostic care, especially for those without private insurance.

Since the US health care system is structured differently, its not clear if Walgreens Boots will take it that far.