The Daily Populous Friday January 17th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by cbsnews.com and submitted by diacewrb

Walgreens to close approximately 1,200 stores over three years

Locking up store merchandise can deter shoplifters and paying customers alike, according to Walgreens.

The pharmacy chain's CEO Tim Wentworth said in Walgreens Boots Alliance's first-quarter earnings call Tuesday that "When you lock things up … you don't sell as many of them. We've kind of proven that pretty conclusively."

Keeping retail products under lock and key is a maneuver designed to thwart rising retail theft. But it also irks — and turns away — would-be paying customers who don't have the patience to wait for a retail clerk to retrieve goods they wish to buy.

Walgreens and other retailers have had to combat so-called "retail shrink," or the loss of inventory from causes other than sales, Wentworth noted. The company took steps to secure more products after it found retail theft accounted for a rising share of shrink. However, locking products behind plastic has not proved effective, he said.

The company's asset protection division is developing "creative" solutions to fight retail theft, Wentworth said Tuesday.

"I don't have anything magnificent to share with you today. It is a hand-to-hand combat battle still, unfortunately," Wentworth said.

The company reported an operating loss of $245 million for the quarter, compared to $39 million for the same quarter one year earlier.

Walgreens plans to close hundreds of stores by the end of 2025 to turn around its flagging sales. It has already closed roughly 2,000 locations over the past decade and has "a lot of experience with store closures," the company said.

"Naturally, we expect our future footprint to support stronger performance," Wentworth said.

nuckle on January 16th, 2025 at 14:49 UTC »

Just the other day Walmart had a 5 dollar thumb drive behind protection, I had to stand there and wait for the electronics guy to finish helping someone else and ring them up. 5 dollars ...

If I didn't really really need it, I would have left.

EnvironmentalEnd6104 on January 16th, 2025 at 14:47 UTC »

I moved from a state that had nothing locked up to a state that has everything locked up. I’ve completely stopped buying everything in person. I never liked using Amazon but I don’t see the difference anymore.

ganner on January 16th, 2025 at 14:43 UTC »

Yeah no shit if you make shopping more difficult people just won't buy from you