Pharmacist explains driving forces behind Walgreens closures

It's been a very tough year for pharmacies. Today, Walgreens announced it's closing 1,200 stores across the country over the next three years. The locations are yet to be determined.

Metro Detroit has seen scores of drugstores close in 2024 between CVS and Rite Aid.

Walgreens said it currently operates about 8,500 stores and most of them are in the United States.

Gary Rys, a Walgreens customer said, "I know it's economy stuff, right? But then you're going to lose people's jobs too."

"I talked to Towanna in there and she said, 'We might lose our job. Ya know, it might be our store,'" he said.

Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth told the Associated Press 6,000 stores are profitable, but to cut costs, a large remainder are following the same fate as hundreds of CVS and Rite Aid locations.

David Brown, a Walgreens customer said, "Oversaturation of the market. Not surprising. In all honesty, supporting your local pharmacist is the best way to go too."

Rudy Najm, a local, independent pharmacist and the owner of iPharmacy in Livonia, said even though more people started visiting his business after Rite Aid closed there are two major factors causing all pharmacies to suffer.

One, he said insurance companies are failing to reimburse pharmacies at a fair rate. Secondly, he called out 'patient steering'. That's when pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) dictate where patients can go to fill a prescription. He said PBMs work on behalf of insurance companies.

Najm said, "People are worried. They come to me sometimes to the drug store (and say), 'Hey, are you guys shutting down too.'"

He said he replies by saying, "No, no we're here to stay, sir. We're here to stay."

Najm explained, "But that's basically the mindset (of concerned customers). There's a lot of anxiety in the population."

He said the thought is often, "Hey, is my pharmacy going to be around for the next year or two?"

As pharmacy profits fall flat, Najm said he tries to stay afloat by selling retail products in the store. But he said it's often not enough and he imagines it's the same challenge for big chains like Walgreens.

"They're both being challenged. The retail side is being challenged by a couple of things. Theft. Just had a lady walk in yesterday (who said), 'Hey, where's your pregnancy test?' She just comes grabs it, and she just walks out. So, we have theft. That's a retail challenge," he explained.

"It's getting worse and worse. You have also the online shopping trend," he added.

Najm said it will take an act of the federal government to stop what's happening to pharmacies.