Well, many people like myself use Walgreens for prescriptions cause they are closer than driving 10 miles to a Wal Mart.
Yes the stuff there is higher but they have sales too. Many times I just want an item or two and I don’t mind paying a little more NOT to go to Wal Mart. It was never meant to be a grocery store any more than the gas station stores which are even higher.
Each of those three towns had a Walgreens, CVS and a Rite Aid almost within sight of each other for several years. In each, the Rite Aid closed during the last three or so years. I think that's another problem. In competing with each other, those three just opened too many locations, especially in medium sized towns, and some were bound to fail. And there are still many locally owned pharmacies in smaller cities and towns. And Publix supermarket/pharmacy stores have opened in two of those three towns. More and more competition in the pharmacy business.