Walgreens is closing 76 stores?!

[CardinalGirl210]

---

Members do not see this ad.

http://www.latimes.com/business/mon...stores-20140325,0,1374092.story#axzz2wzb84kuw

Is this a sign of bad times to come??? Do you think this will put CVS as the #1 pharmacy retailer? Would CVS and Walgreens have been in a better position if they just leave independent pharmacies alone and focus on expanding their business in creative ways rather than dominating the competition?

Any thoughts on this article?

 

[BMBiology]

A lot of these stores opened in communities that expanded during the real estate bubble. They are not profitable and that is why they are closing.

What concerns me is the slow growth in retail. The article says Walgreens only added 138 stores in the last year. Not counting closure of stores, that is only 138 x 3 = 414 new pharmacist jobs. I think a school in Philly graduated that many pharmacists last year.

 

[Momus]

Close bad performing stores... that's common in corporate world. Would you keep the stores open if they are losing money every year?

 

[CardinalGirl210]

Close bad performing stores... that's common in corporate world. Would you keep the stores open if they are losing money every year?

I guess not, but why build so many stores in the first place - why keep acquiring independent pharmacies just to over-saturate the whole area so that a CVS won't be built.

 

[opinionfree]

The chains undertook a brilliant strategy years ago to put the independents out of business. Big, bright stores STUFFED with merchandise. It worked. Now the chains need to shrink the stores back to a pharmacy sized operation and get rid of all that crap they sell. Really, who buys patio furniture and popcorn machines at a chain pharmacy. The cost of all that non-pharmacy crap, is killing the business. Cut the store size to a third of their present size and double the number of stores. The pharmacist saturation problem, as well as the costs of merchandising all those sundries, will correct themselves. Pharmacy will return to the business of pharmacy.

 

[RealityRx]

There's more specific info at investor.walgreens.com, click on the downloadable presentation from today's conference call, page 15.

Here's the info they give...

Total 76 stores:

20 northeast
19 southeast
17 midwest
6 southwest
14 west


Timeframe: Apr-Aug 2014
Avg Store Age: 10 yrs
Demographics: 70% mid to high income



Another article I saw today says they will not list specific stores until the employees are told, which per their current standards means the Friday before the world falls apart. I don't know how they retain these pharmacists. They just turned a bunch of overnighters into floaters on March 1st. "The good news is we can promise you 32 hours floating."

 

[Gombrich12]

There is way too much retail space in this country especially with the rise of Amazon. Pharmacy is in big trouble since about 65-70% of pharmacists work in retail. After all it was the retail boom that drove pharmacist's wages up. As retail goes, so do the prospects for the rest of pharmacists.

 

[Angela1234]

Great, more pharmacists out of work to compete with an already oversaturated market.

 

[type b pharmD]

This is not disaster news, guys.

1. The script volume will go to other stores , probably other WAGS stores.. So those rx counts arent exactly disappearing from the market. Somebody will still have to process them. Also it will open new options for independents/

2. Retail *IS* dragging down the performance of the chain, particularly in that market .. what educated (middle to high income) person would buy *anything* at walgreens is beyond me.

The only reason they are doing this is because they built stores too big, as was mentioned in the above posts. These stores will be back, but not for a while (5-10 years?), and then they will be back as pharmacy-only stores ..

Walmart express anyone? They're expanding to fill the holes left by walgreens' mistakes. A very small, budget oriented (retail merchandise) pharmacy is the sweet spot .. maximize rx revenues per square foot of lease and operating expenses, maximize volume on the cheap commodities .. walgreens' average age of inventory in these stores i suspect is astronomically high .. how many sets of furniture does a walgreens sell per year .. 1 ? Everything in these stores is just sitting there eating up dollars.

I am excited to see Walmart express , personally . Walgreens is too late to the game on that one, and this store closing is simply a catch-up move.

 

[CardinalGirl210]

This is not disaster news, guys.

1. The script volume will go to other stores , probably other WAGS stores.. So those rx counts arent exactly disappearing from the market. Somebody will still have to process them. Also it will open new options for independents/

2. Retail *IS* dragging down the performance of the chain, particularly in that market .. what educated (middle to high income) person would buy *anything* at walgreens is beyond me.

The only reason they are doing this is because they built stores too big, as was mentioned in the above posts. These stores will be back, but not for a while (5-10 years?), and then they will be back as pharmacy-only stores ..

Walmart express anyone? They're expanding to fill the holes left by walgreens' mistakes. A very small, budget oriented (retail merchandise) pharmacy is the sweet spot .. maximize rx revenues per square foot of lease and operating expenses, maximize volume on the cheap commodities .. walgreens' average age of inventory in these stores i suspect is astronomically high .. how many sets of furniture does a walgreens sell per year .. 1 ? Everything in these stores is just sitting there eating up dollars.

I am excited to see Walmart express , personally . Walgreens is too late to the game on that one, and this store closing is simply a catch-up move.

Good analysis - thanks for the input

 

[Hope1974]

http://www.latimes.com/business/mon...stores-20140325,0,1374092.story#axzz2wzb84kuw

Is this a sign of bad times to come??? Do you think this will put CVS as the #1 pharmacy retailer? Would CVS and Walgreens have been in a better position if they just leave independent pharmacies alone and focus on expanding their business in creative ways rather than dominating the competition?

Any thoughts on this article?

CVS already dominates. Its' the 14th largest business in the United States, and they've acquired pharmacies in other countries. Walgreens is only 30 something or 20 something. And many chains that have other names belong to CVS, like Longs Pharmacy in Hawaii. That's all u see there- but it's owned by CVS. The future is CVS. That's where 90 percent of pharmacists will work. Have fun!

 

[Wheresmyaricept]

CVS already dominates. Its' the 14th largest business in the United States, and they've acquired pharmacies in other countries. Walgreens is only 30 something or 20 something. And many chains that have other names belong to CVS, like Longs Pharmacy in Hawaii. That's all u see there- but it's owned by CVS. The future is CVS. That's where 90 percent of pharmacists will work. Have fun!

Walgreens is the largest retail pharmacy chain in the country. And they own other pharmacy chains...ever hear of Duane Reade? Also, Walgreens is the majority shareholder of Alliance Boots over in Europe. The future is not CVS. The future is two pharmacy juggernauts killing all other competition until they both implode and leave the US healthcare system in shambles.

 

[Rxnupe]

Walgreens is the largest retail pharmacy chain in the country. And they own other pharmacy chains...ever hear of Duane Reade? Also, Walgreens is the majority shareholder of Alliance Boots over in Europe. The future is not CVS. The future is two pharmacy juggernauts killing all other competition until they both implode and leave the US healthcare system in shambles.

You need to check your sources in total profitable CVS is by far outperforming WAGS- it's not even close- just look at Forbes 500 ranking and compare the two. When is the last time you heard of CVS closing 70 plus stores? In the DFW area- my biggest competitor was another 24 hor WAGS- well March 1st they are no longer 24 hours- hmmm I wonder why and who do you think volume will rise when WAGS is closed after hours? Finally, check the stock on WAGS now check the stock on CVS- I rest my case!!!!!

 

[txpharmguy]

You need to check your sources in total profitable CVS is by far outperforming WAGS- it's not even close- just look at Forbes 500 ranking and compare the two. When is the last time you heard of CVS closing 70 plus stores? In the DFW area- my biggest competitor was another 24 hor WAGS- well March 1st they are no longer 24 hours- hmmm I wonder why and who do you think volume will rise when WAGS is closed after hours? Finally, check the stock on WAGS now check the stock on CVS- I rest my case!!!!!

WAG has more stores (about 8200) compared to CVS (7600). However, CVS has more revenue because of the mail order component. They don't separate out revenue from retail and mail order to compare apples to apples. WAG currently doesn't count revenue from Alliance/Boots and Amerisource agreement.

 

[Rxnupe]

WAG has more stores (about 8200) compared to CVS (7600). However, CVS has more revenue because of the mail order component. They don't separate out revenue from retail and mail order to compare apples to apples. WAG currently doesn't count revenue from Alliance/Boots and Amerisource agreement.

You do realize that WAGS was founded in 1901 versus CVS which was founded in 1963- so WAGS had a 62 year jump on CVS so quite naturally it should have more stores- yet they have more stores and less revenue? The fact that WAGS has 600 more stores yet less profit and revenue should be a clear sign of what chain is dominating the retail pharmacy industry- even Stevie Wonder can see the difference. Even if you were to include WAGS revenue from Alliance/Boots and Amerisouce it's still less than CVS- again simply go on NASDAQ and compare the two companies stocks and tell me which one is doing better financially. WAGS has been a sinking ship for the last 10 years.

 

[Wheresmyaricept]

You do realize that WAGS was founded in 1901 versus CVS which was founded in 1963- so WAGS had a 62 year jump on CVS so quite naturally it should have more stores- yet they have more stores and less revenue? The fact that WAGS has 600 more stores yet less profit and revenue should be a clear sign of what chain is dominating the retail pharmacy industry- even Stevie Wonder can see the difference. Even if you were to include WAGS revenue from Alliance/Boots and Amerisouce it's still less than CVS- again simply go on NASDAQ and compare the two companies stocks and tell me which one is doing better financially. WAGS has been a sinking ship for the last 10 years.

You're just butt hurt that I was technically right about Walgreens being the largest pharmacy chain. Besides, CVS is mostly miserable to work for. Walgreens is slightly less miserable. No one wins. It's not a competition. You don't own CVS. You're just a brainwashed employee. These numbers you're spouting off? Mean nothing. I don't care what Walgreens stock is. As long as I have a job to go to and keep getting a paycheck, I don't care. Maybe you should look into getting some hobbies or take a vacation.


But to address your fear mongering claims, chains closing pharmacies happens all the time. Go and look at the past monthly earnings statements by each company. At the bottom it summarizes how many stores were opened and closed. Last quarter cvs closed 7 pharmacies. OMG end of the world. People read that Walgreens is closing 70 stores and freak out. What they missed is the part where Walgreens also said in their earnings release for last quarter that there will still be a net gain of 50+ stores for the fiscal year, including all these closures. Which means at least 120 new locations opening. Are we done arguing about nothing we can control or should worry about?

 

[HouTX]

He's just taking his anger out on us when he is getting abused at work. I know, I was miserable like him until I quit CVS. Rxnupe, you might be a superstar but CVS is still a $hitty company to work for. go find another company that treats their employees better and be a superstar there.

 

[n64bomb]

He's just takin' his anger out on us when he be gettin' abused at work. me know, me was miserable like him until me quit CVS. Rxnupe, you might be a superstar but CVS be still a $hitty company to work for. go find another company that treats their employees better and be a superstar thar.

Very true. (Hands rxnupe a prune). There ya go!

 

[nextyearrx]

Hey Guys,

I have a question. I am currently working as a floater rph (but at the same store) for Walgreens. I want to get transfer to a store that is 5 minutes away from my house. How easy do you think this transfer will be (for a floater)?
I am gonna email my supervisor soon!!

 

[BidingMyTime]

Hey Guys,

I have a question. I am currently working as a floater rph (but at the same store) for Walgreens. I want to get transfer to a store that is 5 minutes away from my house. How easy do you think this transfer will be (for a floater)?
I am gonna email my supervisor soon!!

The #1 thing for transfers in any company, is there an opening at the store you want to go to? If there is an opening, then the 2nd biggest thing will be, does the pharmacy manager there like you (or is there someone else he knows or likes better that wants the job there?) If there is an opening & the pharmacy manager likes you, then transferring will be easy (if not it will be very hard.)

 

[knight on horse]

The chains undertook a brilliant strategy years ago to put the independents out of business. Big, bright stores STUFFED with merchandise. It worked. Now the chains need to shrink the stores back to a pharmacy sized operation and get rid of all that crap they sell. Really, who buys patio furniture and popcorn machines at a chain pharmacy. The cost of all that non-pharmacy crap, is killing the business. Cut the store size to a third of their present size and double the number of stores. The pharmacist saturation problem, as well as the costs of merchandising all those sundries, will correct themselves. Pharmacy will return to the business of pharmacy.

Lol popcorn machines. Some ***** got too excited and added without thinking.

However, the best of both worlds would be amazing. Imagine a Walgreens where people did shop for everything, and also went to for their prescriptions.

 

[type b pharmD]

Lol popcorn machines. Some ***** got too excited and added without thinking.

However, the best of both worlds would be amazing. Imagine a Walgreens where people did shop for everything, and also went to for their prescriptions.

Two words. Walmart express

 

[Momus]

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/behind...eave-illinois-for-tax-advantage-in-europe-ft/

Trying to reduce taxes :O