Walgreens Plans , ‘Significant’ Store Closures.
On June 27, Walgreens announced quarterly earnings
that were poorer than expected, NBC News reports.
The company's stock fell 15% in pre-market trading.
CEO Tim Wentworth issued a press release.
We continue to face a difficult operating
environment, including persistent
pressures on the U.S. consumer and the
impact of recent marketplace dynamics
which have eroded pharmacy margins, Tim Wentworth, Walgreens CEO, via press release.
Our results and outlook
reflect these headwinds, Tim Wentworth, Walgreens CEO, via press release.
Wentworth elaborated in an interview with CNBC.
The consumer is absolutely stunned by
the absolute prices of things, and the
fact that some of them may not be
inflating doesn’t actually change their
resistance to the current pricing, Tim Wentworth, Walgreens CEO, via CNBC.
On a call with analysts, Wentworth said that Walgreens' strategy will have to "include the closure of a significant portion of these underperforming stores.".
75% of our stores drive 100% of our
profitability today. What that means is
the others we take a hard look at, we are
going to finalize a number that we will close, Tim Wentworth, Walgreens CEO, via call with analysts.
The pharmacy chain currently
operates about 8,600 stores