A dozen more Walgreens in the Bay Area closing

SAN FRANCISCO - A dozen Walgreens in San Francisco will close in February, the company confirmed on Thursday, following some other pharmacy closures in the Bay Area and across the country.

What we know:

Walgreens spokesman Marty Maloney would not say why the stores were shutting their doors between Feb. 24 and 27.

But he indicated that the closures were financially motivated and not crime-related.

"Increased regulatory and reimbursement pressures are weighing on our ability to cover the costs associated with rent, staffing, and supply needs," Maloney wrote in an email. "It is never an easy decision to close a store."

The San Francisco Standard first reported the closures, in an article titled, "Pharmageddon: Walgreens to shutter 12 San Francisco stores." 

By the numbers:

Three more East Bay Walgreens stores are closing by the end of January, KTVU previously reported. 

San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton said two of the Walgreens locations that are closing are in his community, and will deprive San Franciscans of access to medications they need and retail options.

"We obviously have people of color, we have seniors folks with disabilities that rely on these pharmacies," said Walton. "Not having these right in our community is going to have a devastating effect."

Walton said he has been in discussions with Walgreens, and said the company has made it clear these closures are coming and there is no room for delays or negotiations.

He said he's already reaching out to the new mayor and to businesses to get these locations filled as quickly as possible.

"We're going to continue reaching out to pharmacy providers, we're going to reach out to grocers and see who we can get to come in, and, of course, fulfill the goods and services needs gap that will exist if we don't act fast," he said.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie's communications director, Nina Negusse, released a statement about the impending closures, "Yesterday Mayor Lurie committed to San Franciscans that the city is open for business, and our team is now hard at work to deliver the safe and clean streets that will drive our comeback. Our administration stands ready to partner with businesses that want to invest in the city to make sure our communities can live healthy lives."

The Walgreens at 3434 High Street in Oakland is closing on Jan. 22 and the Walgreens at 5809 Foothill Blvd in Oakland is closing Jan. 30. 

Prescriptions from both closed stores will be transferred to the Walgreens at 3232 Foothill Boulevard. 

In nearby Richmond, the Walgreens at 1150 Macdonald Avenue is closing on Jan. 30, and prescriptions will transfer to the Walgreens at 13691 San Pablo Avenue, the company said. 

Walgreens isn't the only drug store to face challenges – the pharmacy giant announced this fall it was closing 1,200 stores nationwide. 

Dig deeper:

New research shows a significant number of drugstores in the United States have gone out of business in recent years.

A study published in Health Affairs found about 30% of drugstores that were open between 2010 and 2020 were closed by 2021.

That's more than 26,000 stores out of the roughly 89,000 that were in business during that time.

Researchers also found drugstores that served numbers of people on Medicare and Medicaid had a greater chance of closing.

Drugstores have been dealing with higher costs for drugs while reimbursements have remained steady or decreased.

Here is a list of the stores in San Francisco that will close: 

• 1201 Taraval St.
• 3201 Divisadero St.
• 1363 Divisadero St.
• 825 Market St.
• 1750 Noriega St.
• 5280 Geary Blvd.
• 1524 Polk St.
• 1301 Franklin St.
• 1189 Potrero Ave.
• 135 Powell St.
• 1630 Ocean Ave.
• 5300 Third St.