The Walgreens in Trolley Square is closing. (Ken Mammarella photo)
Another drugstore is closing, and this time it’s the Walgreens in Trolley Square.
Citing a recent post on Nextdoor.com that reported the closure, DelawareLive asked Walgreens to confirm the news, to share the store’s last day and indicate if any other Delaware Walgreens locations have closures scheduled.
Here’s what a Walgreens corporate spokesperson said:
“Our retail pharmacy business is central to our go-forward business strategy. However, increased regulatory and reimbursement pressures are weighing on our ability to serve our patients profitably. We’ve reached a point where the current pharmacy model is not sustainable and the challenges in our operating environment require that we approach the market differently.
“We are making substantial changes to our store footprint, closing stores based on profitability including this store in Wilmington which is not able to cover the costs associated with rent, staffing, and supply needs. While it is not an easy decision to close a store, we will work to minimize customer disruptions. We intend to redeploy the majority of our team members and offer our dedicated team members new roles at other locations.”
The nation’s 10 largest pharmacies by prescription revenue are a mix of drugstores, supermarkets and health companies: CVS, Walgreens, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Walmart, Kroger, Rite Aid, Humana, Albertsons and Publix, according to the Drug Channels Institute.
Drugstore chains “are closing thousands of stores, leaving gaps in communities for medicines and essentials,” CNN wrote at the end of 2023, just after Rite Aid declared bankruptcy.
“Overall, we have seen pharmacist and pharmacy technician staffing levels improve across the 17 states we serve,” a Rite Aid representative said then, “but like the rest of the industry, we continue to manage through shortages in some areas.”
Rite Aid quickly closed three stores at the end of 2023, near Newark, Prices Corner and Claymont. Three more Rite Aid locations have closed since then, and Rite Aid now lists 30 locations in Delaware.
Pharmacies and pharmacists were hit hard during the pandemic, and Delaware lost all four of its 24-hour pharmacies, according to Julie Miro Wenger, executive director of the Delaware Association of Chain Drug Stores.
There is now good news on that front. Walgreens has since opened a 24-hour pharmacy on the Pulaski Highway near Bear.
