Walgreens is planning to close another South Side location, citing theft and violent incidents — a move that’s drawing the ire of local leaders who say their communities rely on the store.
The Walgreens at 8628 S. Cottage Grove Ave. will shut its doors June 4, according to Walgreens. The closure comes a little more than a year after Walgreens shuttered five other stores on the South and West sides of Chicago, amid a larger plan at the time to close 1,200 stores nationwide. Walgreens is also closing a specialty pharmacy in South Shore later this month.
Ald. William Hall, 6th, said he first heard about the planned Cottage Grove Avenue store closure earlier this week. He said the community has been “blindsided.”
“There has been a mass abandonment of access to quality medicine on the South Side and on the West Side, particularly in neighborhoods that made Walgreens what it is today,” Hall said. “It’s just a lack of commitment to brown and Black people in the neighborhoods.”
A Walgreens spokesperson said in a statement Friday that the company remains committed to Chicago, and the decision to close the store wasn’t an easy one.
“Over time, this store has experienced significantly higher levels of theft and violent incidents than company averages,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “Despite a range of efforts, including previous operating adjustments, these ongoing safety challenges have made it increasingly difficult to maintain a secure environment for our team members and customers. While this was not an easy decision, safety must remain our top priority.”
The spokesperson said Walgreens expects to close fewer than 100 stores nationwide this year and has approved four new store openings. Walgreens did not comment on how many of those might be in Chicago.
Ald. Desmon Yancy, 5th, called the Cottage Grove Avenue store closure disrespectful to the community.
“Two things can be true, that the store has experienced some issues … but there’s also some sort of social responsibility as they’re thinking about the health and well-being of the community that supported that store for decades,” Yancy said.
Hall said local leaders hope to persuade Walgreens to at least keep a pharmacy-only store open at the location. Though another Walgreens is about 1.3 miles from the store that’s closing, that can be a difficult distance for some people, especially those without access to cars, Hall said.
Walgreens, which was founded in Chicago about 125 years ago, was sold last year to private equity firm Sycamore Partners. The sale followed years of struggles for Walgreens, including an ill-fated, costly attempt to become more of a healthcare destination by investing in primary care provider VillageMD. The company has also faced challenges for years related to medication reimbursements and competition from online retailers.
Earlier this year, Walgreens said it planned to lay off 469 employees in Illinois, who worked at the company’s headquarters in Deerfield, at the Old Post Office downtown and in Danville, according to a letter the company sent to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
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The Walgreens spokesperson said in the statement Friday that Walgreens is “focused on becoming America’s best retail pharmacy, beginning with improving the in‑store experience for our customers and patients.”
Walgreens is hiring additional workers where needed to expand pharmacy and store hours and “bringing in more relevant products and inventory to better serve the millions of people who rely on us every day, often in areas where access to pharmacy and convenient shopping is limited,” according to the statement.
Walgreens said in its statement that after June 4, prescriptions from the Cottage Grove Avenue store will be automatically transferred to nearby stores, and patients from that location will be eligible for free prescription delivery for 90 days.
