Walgreens is leaving the ghetto.
Private equity will not keep stores where violence, theft or liability is a problem - or stores that simply lose money - and the overlap of the two categories is nearly 100%. They will all be closed within months.
Give it 12 months for politicians in Chicago, Oakland, Los Angeles, etc... to start complaining about “pharmacy deserts.”
As the CEO himself admitted a month ago locking down items, which you don’t see anywhere else outside major crime zones, has hurt more than helped. They are a good FedEx drop off but I have quit buying anything that needs to be cut off the shelf.
Yes and not being a pubic entity will make it easier to close out non profitable stores and concentrate on more lucrative locations without being sued by stock holders more interested in DEI than profit...
Expect them to leave California and New York except for richer areas.
Fully expect Walgreens to abandon those areas. They already have mostly left San Francisco...