- Rite Aid said it will close 150 of its 2,100 US locations after filing for bankruptcy
- CVS is set to close the doors on 900 of its stores by the end of 2024
- Walgreens will shutter 150 stores by summer 2024 – leaving millions in ‘pharmacy deserts’
The nation’s largest drugstore chains, Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens, will shutter more than 1,500 stores, leaving millions of Americans without access to healthcare in ‘pharmacy deserts.’
Rite Aid said it will close 150 of its 2,100 US locations after they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month.
The pharmacy chain has been unable to settle hundreds of lawsuits that accused them of overprescribing opioids and has struggled to keep up with competitors.
A slew of drugstore chains slashing their locations has left millions of people living in areas where it’s difficult to obtain medication, areas known as ‘pharmacy deserts,’ according to JAMA Network.
‘According to our estimates, about one in four neighborhoods are pharmacy deserts across the country,’ Dima Qato, an associate professor at the University of Southern California, said to the Washington Post.
‘These closures are disproportionately affecting communities that need pharmacies most.’
CVS is set to close the doors on 900 of its stores by the end of 2024, 10 percent of all its shops, as part of their online strategy.
The major drugstore chain is coming to the end of a policy launched in 2021 which will see 300 stores closed each year – meaning 900 will have shuttered by 2024.
CVS made the reforms to adjust to the needs of online shoppers while battling rampant shoplifting.
In September, CVS store manager Michael Jacobs, 49, was shot and killed by customer accused of shoplifting in Arizona.
Photos show barren shelves in a DC CVS store that is routinely ransacked by groups of up to 50 teenagers.
CapitalOne Research estimated stores had lost $86.6 billion to retail theft in 2022 and projected that by 2025, retail theft may cost stores over $115 billion.
Walgreens will shutter 150 stores by summer 2024, citing slashed earnings due to plummeting demand for Covid vaccines and tests.
Shares in the pharmaceutical chain reached their lowest level in more than 11 years back in June, prompting drastic cost-cutting measures from executives.
Employees at more than 500 of Walgreens’ 9,000 stores across the country went on strike from October 9 through October 11.
Pharmacy staff walked out over concerns that working conditions are putting employees and patients at risk.
TelePharm, a healthcare company, said solutions to pharmacy deserts include prescription delivery, mail order, prescription drug lockers, telepharmacy and physician dispensing.