Walgreens is closing a longtime location in Chicago because of runaway theft, shuttering one of the few remaining pharmacies in that portion of the South Side.
On June 4, the pharmacy chain is suspending its location at 86th and Cottage Grove, according to areportfrom WFLD-TV.
Walgreens Regional Vice President Reginald Johnson said at a town hall that the closure was “the last resort” — but was made necessary by high levels of theft.
“I’m here today because we’re closing the store at 86th and Cottage Grove. But I just want to make sure everyone understands closing stores are not our goal,” he said.
BREAKING: Walgreens reveals the Chicago South Side store they are shuttering after 20 years, lost $1 million mainly due to theft last year, which is 4x the company average, while they spent $400k a year on security and employees still got assaulted.
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“Theft at this store is 16 percent,” Johnson added. “That’s four times above the company average.”
Some residents called the store closure a sign of disinvestment in the black community that will worsen a lack of locations where prescriptions can be filled.
But Walgreens District Manager Jason Vasquez said the decision only came after unsuccessful efforts to stop thievery.
“Lock boxes help us protect the merchandise in the store. A lot of the time, those lock boxes were getting destroyed. And that’s at a great cost to the company,” he remarked.
Source: VidNews » Feed
