Walgreens on King Drive will close; third Milwaukee location to announce closure in recent weeks

The Walgreens location at 2826 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Milwaukee will close, the retail and pharmacy giant said Tuesday.

It’s unclear when this location will shut for good. Walgreens abruptly closed a south side location last month, citing “several incidents of criminal activity” at the store.

This is the third location in Milwaukee that will close since Walgreens announced that it would be closing about 1,200 stores by 2027 and 500 by the end of next year nationwide.

Walgreens on South Layton Boulevard and West National Avenue on the south side was supposed to close by mid-November but abruptly closed early on Oct. 18, while it was announced Monday that the Walgreens at North 91st Street and West Appleton Avenue also will close.

The company said Tuesday, “We have no further announcements” when asked about any other closures.

The alderman for the Appleton Avenue location said he expected that store to close by Dec. 3. He urged constituents to find alternate pharmacy locations.

Ald. Milele Coggs represents the area surrounding the King Drive location. She didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Walgreens said in a statement: “Our retail pharmacy business is central to our go-forward business strategy. However, increased regulatory and reimbursement pressures are weighing on our ability to cover the costs associated with rent, staffing, and supply needs.

“It is never an easy decision to close a store. We know that our stores are important to the communities that we serve, and therefore do everything possible to improve the store performance. When closures are necessary, like these two in Milwaukee, we will work in partnership with community stakeholders to minimize customer disruptions. We intend to redeploy the majority of our team members from those stores that we close.”