Walgreens Keeps Shrinking: Stores Closing Across a Dozen States in 2026, But Slower Than Planned

Walgreens Is Still Closing Stores in 2026, Just Not as Fast

Walgreens is still shutting stores in 2026, but at a slower pace than the company had originally mapped out. The pharmacy chain, now privately owned after a $10 billion buyout by Sycamore Partners in August 2025, has been closing locations across at least a dozen states as it tries to get its business back to a profitable footing. More than 500 stores have already shut since the company first announced a sweeping closure plan in October 2024. This year, fewer than 100 additional locations are expected to close — well below the internal figures that had been circulating before Sycamore took over.

Walgreens Closes Houston Distribution Center, Cuts 159 Jobs

The cutbacks are not limited to neighborhood pharmacy locations. Walgreens has also been trimming its supply chain infrastructure. Earlier this year, the company shut its 500,000 square foot distribution center on Greens Road near George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, eliminating 159 jobs. Workers at that facility were given 60 days of continued pay and access to on-site job placement services. Distribution operations previously handled there have been redirected to the company’s center in Waxahachie, south of Dallas. In Illinois, the company cut nearly 470 corporate roles in a restructuring move aimed at flattening management layers and reducing overhead costs. Despite all of this, Walgreens still runs more than 8,500 stores nationwide, making it the second-largest pharmacy chain in the country behind CVS.

Why Walgreens Is Shutting Down Stores

Walgreens spent years under pressure from multiple directions at once. Insurance middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers kept cutting what they paid Walgreens for prescriptions. Retail theft ate into margins at hundreds of locations. Customer traffic fell as more people shifted to mail-order prescriptions and services like Amazon Pharmacy. Rite Aid, once a major competitor, closed its final 89 stores in October 2024 after going through bankruptcy, leaving Walgreens and CVS to absorb what remained of that market.
New CEO Mike Motz, installed after Sycamore took the company private, has made clear that Walgreens cannot keep operating the way it has. The plan under his leadership involves splitting the company into five separate businesses — including Boots, the UK-based pharmacy chain, and VillageMD, the clinical health division. The idea is that each piece will be easier to manage and fund independently than they are bundled together under one roof.

Walgreens 2026 Strategy: Micro-Fulfillment and Business Split

The company has been expanding its network of micro-fulfillment centers — automated facilities that handle prescription processing and ship directly to retail locations. Walgreens currently runs 14 of these centers across the country. A new facility opened in West Jordan, Utah in December 2025, and another launched in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota in May 2025, handling roughly 13 million prescriptions annually for nearly 200 Midwest stores. The bet is that centralizing prescription fulfillment will cut costs while keeping service levels high enough to retain customers long term.
Source: Inc. Magazine, Supply Chain Dive, Bisnow Houston, Newsweek, Supermarket News