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Walgreens announced plans to close a location on Chicago’s South Side next month as the store’s profitability suffered due to elevated levels of theft as well as a decline in prescription sales.
The pharmacy chain revealed the reasons behind its decision to close the Walgreens at 86th in Cottage Grove in the Chatham neighborhood of Chicago at a town hall in the community on Saturday.
“I’m here today because we’re closing the store at 86th and Cottage Grove. But I just want to make sure everyone understands closing stores [is] not our goal. This is the last resort,” Walgreens regional Vice President Reginald Johnson said, according to Fox 32 Chicago.
Walgreens executives revealed at the town hall that the location lost over $1 million last year amid softening prescription sales and significant levels of theft, which resulted in the decision to close the store on June 4.
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Johnson said that “theft at this store is 16%,” which is “four times above the company average,” which contributed to losses at the store.
The company said that it took measures to counteract theft at the store, but was unable to put an end to the issues at the location.
“Lock boxes help us protect the merchandise in the store. A lot of the time, those lock boxes were getting destroyed. And that’s at a great cost to the company,” said Walgreens district manager Jason Vasquez, according to Fox 32’s report.
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It also said that Walgreens was spending $400,000 a year on security guards at the store, but employees still faced attacks and threats amid the theft at the location.
“Wev’e had people jump across the counters, because we sell liquor behind the counter, taking liquor, cigarettes,” said Lonnie Fuqua, the store’s manager. “That wears down. Not so much the financial piece but the endurance of that day in and day out.”
Residents and customers of the location expressed concern at the town hall about access to their prescriptions and frustration with having to go to a location farther away from their neighborhood, Fox 32 reported.
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The company is encouraging customers to use another Walgreens location that’s about 1 mile away and is reaching out via mail and email to inform customers about how they can have their prescriptions delivered by mail.
“For seniors, there’s some solutions that have been put in place where you’ll get free delivery. That has already started for those medications you may have that, under the law, can be delivered,” Fuqua said.
FOX Business reached out to Walgreens for comment.
