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Walgreens to close stores throughout the Bay Area
Walgreens confirms plans to close locations around the Bay Area, including a dozen in San Francisco.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Less than a week after Walgreens confirmed the upcoming closures of a large batch of San Francisco locations, KTVU has learned two stores in Oakland have been added to the list.
What we know:
On Tuesday, Walgreens confirmed that the following Oakland stores will close next month.
- 301 E 18th Street on Feb. 24
- 5055 Telegraph Avenue on Feb. 27
The drug store chain said that patients who get their prescriptions filled at those locations do not need to take action.
The company will automatically transfer those prescriptions to the nearest locations, a Walgreens spokesperson told KTVU in an email.
For 301 E. 18th Street, prescriptions were being transferred to 3250 Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland.
For the Telegraph Avenue closure, they’ll be sent to 2801 Adeline Street in Berkeley.
The backstory:
The retail giant said the upcoming closures were due to financial reasons and did not indicate crime as a factor.
"Increased regulatory and reimbursement pressures are weighing on our ability to cover the costs associated with rent, staffing, and supply needs," the company said.
In recent years, some Oakland businesses have closed amid frustration over rampant crime, though the figures from the city showed that in 2024, crime rates, including in robbery and burglary, saw a noticeable decline.
SEE ALSO: Oakland sees 34% drop in homicides, shootings in 2024
The upcoming closures next month will come after Oakland will lose two Walgreens.
The store at 3434 High Street will close on Jan. 22. The store at 5809 Foothill Blvd. is set to shutter on Jan. 30.
Also on Jan. 30, Walgreens plans to close its Richmond store at 1150 Macdonald Avenue.
Across the Bay, a dozen Walgreens locations in San Francisco are slated for closure from Feb. 24 to 27.
San Francisco stores to close next month:
- 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.
Local perspective:
San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton said two of the Walgreens that are closing are in his community and that many residents in rhose neighborhoods will be detrimentally affected.
"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."
Dig deeper:
Last year, Walgreens announced it was planning to close 1,200 stores nationwide.
Figures show a significant number of U.S. drugstores have gone out of business in recent years.
A study published in Health Affairs found almost 30% of drugstores that were open from 2010 to 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.
What they're saying:
"It is never an easy decision to close a store. We know that our stores are important to the communities that we serve," Walgreens said, adding, "When closures are necessary, like those in Oakland we will work in partnership with community stakeholders to minimize customer disruptions."
The company said customers are being notified by mail when a store is set to close. Signs are also going up at those locations to alert customers when they come in.