Dive Brief:

• Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc said Thursday that it plans to close around 200 stores in the United States. 
• The news came as the drugstore chain reported its second quarter earnings, with sales from U.S. stores up 7.4% to $21 billion compared to a year ago. Same-store sales rose 6.9%, and adjusted earnings for the quarter grew 22%. 
• Walgreens announced an overall cost-savings plan in August, where it hopes to trim $1.5 billion in expenses over the next three years. 

Dive Insight:

While certainly tough for the communities and employees impacted by these store closings, they amount to only about 2% of the 8,232 drugstores Walgreens runs in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company also announced that it will be restructuring by streamlining IT functions and reorganizing field and corporate operations after its acquisition of European pharmacy company Alliance Boots earlier this year. 

"This quarter marked a solid start for our new company, and I remain as optimistic as ever about our long-term future," said At the same time, acting CEO Stefano Pessina. "We understand the work that is needed to proactively address headwinds such as reimbursement pressure and competition."