The layoffs follow the August acquisition by Sycamore Partners.
Walgreens is laying off hundreds of employees in two states.
A Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification Notices (WARN) notice in Texas from February 18 shows Walgreens intends to lay off 159 employees in the Houston area starting June 1.
Another 469 positions are being cut in the company’s home state of Illinois, according to Fast Company. In addition to the layoffs, Walgreens also reportedly confirmed that it will be closing dozens of stores in 2026.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The layoffs confirm critics’ concerns after Walgreens was acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners in August 2025, according to Private Equity Stakeholder Project.
Walgreens reportedly began cutting jobs and closing stores under Sycamore Partners ownership. Walgreens footprint was approximately 8,000 locations and 211,000 workers as of January, down from 8,500 stores and 220,000 employees at the time of the acquisition by Sycamore Partners.
While still under WBA ownership, in July 2024, Walgreens announced plans to shutter up to 25% of its retail stores that were unprofitable.
Walgreens is closing 1,200 stores over three years, with 500 shutting down in fiscal 2025 alone. The chain’s CEO, Tim Wentworth, admitted they’ve already closed about 2,000 locations over the past decade, and roughly 25% of their remaining stores aren’t even profitable, according to Yahoo!News.
THE LARGER TREND
Other retail pharmacies have faced challenges from high operational costs and consumers shifting to more online shopping.
Rite Aid has closed. In 2025, CVS Pharmacy acquired 63 former Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. CVS Pharmacy said it had also acquired the prescription files of 626 former Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs pharmacies in 15 states.
CVS closed 270 locations in 2025. Roughly 900 stores closed between 2022 and 2024 for a total of 1,170 CVS locations gone in four years, according to Yahoo!News.
Meanwhile, Amazon Pharmacy recently announced it is expanding same-day prescription delivery to close to 4,500 cities this year. This will add nearly 2,000 new communities to expansion efforts that began in 2024 in New York City and greater Los Angeles.
Amazon is competing against Walmart, Optum Home Delivery, Cigna Express Scripts and CVS Caremark in the home drug delivery business.