Walgreen Co. of Deerfield, Ill., announced Monday that it would close 76 USA Drug-affiliated stores by November, including 27 in Arkansas.
In July, Walgreen said it was buying the Stephen L. LaFrance Holdings Inc.’s regional drugstore chain in a deal worth $438 million. The chain, which is operated under Stephen LaFrance Pharmacy Inc. of Little Rock, includes 144 USA Drug, Super D Drug, May Drug, Med-X and Drug Warehouse stores in Arkansas and six other states.
In Northwest Arkansas, six location will be closed. The cities affected: Fayetteville, Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and Siloam Springs.
Ken Rhodes, who’s been a pharmacist for 47 years, owns Jepson Drug Store in Siloam Springs.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean they will choose to go to Walgreens. I’m sure a lot of them will but certainly the rest of us will get customers that go different places in fact some might go out of town,” said Ken Rhodes.
The transaction is expected to close in mid-September, said James W. Graham in an email statement to ArkansasBusiness.com.
“After careful planning and market analysis, on Monday we began to notify employees of our intent to close 27 stores in Arkansas,” he wrote. “Our decisions about store closures are based on a number of considerations, including size of the market and proximity to other Walgreens and USA Drug stores and affiliates.” Click here to read the full story from our partners at ArkansasBusiness.com.
