If they would try competitive pricing on their non-pharmacy goods, they might see an increase in sales.
A bottle of aspirin costs about $3.50 at Walmart and $5.00 (on sale) at Walgreens. Their other grocery and non-pharmacy items are similarly priced higher than the local competition.
They did recently acquire a competing drugstore chain (about 20 stores) in Arkansas. Even so, they still have low customer traffic.
I went in Saturday morning to pick up some prescriptions. I was one of three customers in the store — on a Saturday morning.
Yes, in my area they are regarded as costly; their only benefit is being open 24 hours. In my area these are on the fringes of “food deserts”, serving as bodegas of sorts to the transient gibsmedat population usually spending someone else’s money.