Walgreens to close fewer stores

Walgreens to close fewer stores - walgreens closures — Walgreens to close fewer stores

Walgreens is closing stores in 2026, but not as many as the retailer originally planned. The pharmacy giant is continuing a multiyear downsizing effort, closing stores across at least a dozen states as it works to shrink its footprint to a more profitable base.

The closures aren’t limited to traditional retail locations. In recent years, the pharmacy chain has also moved to shutter larger operational sites, including a roughly 500,000-square-foot distribution center in Houston.

Walgreens currently operates more than 8,500 stores nationwide, making it the second-largest pharmacy chain in the U.S. Even with hundreds of closures already completed over the past year, the company remains a dominant presence in most major markets.

Executives have framed the current round of cuts as a “store optimization strategy” meant to concentrate resources on higher-performing locations rather than a broader retreat from the pharmacy business.

The company originally announced in October 2024 that it would close roughly 1,200 underperforming stores over a three-year period. Last year, it said it planned to make approximately 500 cuts.

In 2025, Walgreens went private, and its new owners have scaled back the pace of closures. Now, Walgreens expects to shutter fewer than 100 stores in 2026, down from earlier internal projections that had put the number closer to 700.

The reasons behind individual closures vary by location, but they generally fall into a handful of recurring categories: expiring leases, underperforming sales, distribution center consolidation, and, in a number of cases, ongoing theft and safety concerns that have made certain stores too costly to keep open.

In Chicago alone, several locations have closed this year following years of reduced hours and community pushback. Some residents in neighborhoods like Chatham have protested what they called “corporate abandonment.”

A list of closed Walgreens locations in 2026 includes:

California: 1301 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Florida: 12041 Palm Beach Boulevard, Fort Myers, FL 33905
Illinois: 2351 E 71st Street, Chicago, IL 60649, 8628 S Cottage Grove Avenue, Chicago, IL 60619, 5503 E State Street, Rockford, IL 61108, 108 Wilmot Road, Deerfield, IL 60015
Missouri: 11404 St Charles Rock Road, Bridgeton, MO 63044, 2202 Chambers Road, St. Louis, MO 63136
New York: 120 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
South Carolina: 1294 Ribaut Road, Beaufort, SC 29902
Texas: 1805 Greens Road, Houston, TX 77032
Virginia: 1301 S Joyce Street, Suite D3, Arlington, VA 22202
Washington: 2400 S Jackson Street, Seattle, WA 98144
Washington, D.C.: 1815 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
Wisconsin: 2727 W North Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53208