If you have any friends who continue to insist that the economy was "just fine" under the Biden-Harris administration and that the country was simply recovering from all the damage that Donald Trump left behind in his wake, you may want to ask them if they've taken a look at Walgreens lately. The venerable store, once a fixture in smaller towns around the country isn't doing so well these days. In fact, the retail giant is in the process of closing at least 1,200 outlets in just the coming year. Local operators have been warned that these closures are only the ones that have been verified for 2025. The total may turn out to be more than 2,000 when all is said and done. So what's causing this? There are a few problems, but for the most part these retail outlets simply aren't profitable anymore.
From the NY Post:
Walgreens announced that it will shutter 1,200 stores over the next three years — and 500 locations in 2025 alone — as the drugstore giant seeks to slash $1 billion in costs.The Chicago-based pharmacy chain, which has around 8,700 locations nationwide, told analysts on Tuesday that one in four of its stores are unprofitable.The closures were announced in June but the company had not disclosed the number of affected stores at that time. At the time, Walgreens said it could shutter up to a quarter of stores, which is more than 2,000 locations.
The chain's management blamed the failing business model as being the result of "sluggish consumer spending amid stubbornly high inflation." For those keeping score, this could turn out to be a more impactful headline than the latest consumer spending index numbers or Congressional reports on inflation. When an outlet that has remained a regular fixture on main streets and shopping center squares for generations suddenly begins turning off the lights, people tend to notice. And "sluggish spending" and "stubborn inflation" are not hallmarks of a healthy economy.
This is also the sort of news that digs much deeper than a handful of minimum-wage jobs being lost at a local outlet. Particularly in low-income areas where people are already struggling, the local pharmacy can be people's only destination for many necessities beyond prescriptions. This can be very problematic for consumers whose only other access to such products and services requires walking or taking public transportation. People who suddenly find themselves in such a situation aren't going to want to hear any explanations about a sluggish economy. They want the services they have come to reply upon and when those services suddenly go away, they're going to have questions.
This is yet another area of opportunity that Donald Trump should be exploiting if someone can convince him to stop talking about Kamala Harris' race or describing how he would like to be a "dictator for a day" if he is elected. These are the types of bread-and-butter issues (literally in this case) that capture people's attention and bring the real stakes of this election into focus. Donald Trump has the facts on his side when it comes to the results of the Biden-Harris agenda. He was dealt a winning hand. But he continues to chase all manner of rabbits down unrelated holes and he's playing into the liberal legacy media's "analytical" hands. This race has no business being as close as it is in the polls today, and yet here we are. It's a real shame to observe.
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