2nd local Walgreens store says it’s closing permanently

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A second local Walgreens location is among around 1,200 stores the chain will be shutting down.

The store at 3228 Wrightsboro Road will be closing permanently on March 6, customers were told.

Walgreens had previously announced the store at Washington Road and Bobby Jones Expressway will be permanently closing on Feb. 20.

The closures are happening as the chain and its rivals struggle to define their role for U.S. shoppers who no longer look to them first for convenience.

Drugstores that once snapped up prime retail space in towns and cities across the country are in retreat. They’ve been battered by shrinking prescription reimbursement, persistent theft, rising costs and consumers who have strayed to online retailers or competitors with better prices.

Drugstore leaders and analysts who follow the industry say smaller versions of these chains have a future in U.S. retail, but they’re still trying to understand how that will play out.

“They’ve really got to rethink how they do business and, most importantly, what they mean and what value they bring to the customer,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of consulting and data analysis firm GlobalData.

Saunders said drugstores “have really shot themselves in the foot” because they no longer have a clear way to differentiate themselves from other retailers.

“When you want to get the big bucks from consumers, you have to be a destination for something,” he said. “And unfortunately, drugstores have increasingly become destinations for nothing.”

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