Walgreens, a household name for nearly a century, is making a big change. On March 6, 2025, the company announced it would be acquired by Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm specializing in retail. This $24 billion deal means Walgreens will no longer be a publicly traded company—a major shift for a brand that’s been on the stock market since 1927.
Why is Walgreens Going Private?
The move comes at a challenging time for the pharmacy industry. Rising operational costs, increasing competition, and changing healthcare trends have put pressure on Walgreens’ bottom line. By going private, the company hopes to restructure its business without the pressures of public investors.
More Store Closures Are Coming
In October 2024, Walgreens announced the possible closure of 1,200 stores, with 500 expected to shut down in 2025 alone. This restructuring is part of an effort to cut costs and focus on more profitable locations. Customers in certain areas may see fewer nearby Walgreens stores, potentially affecting their access to prescriptions and healthcare services.
What This Means for Customers
For customers, this transition could mean:
- Fewer Walgreens locations, making it less convenient for prescriptions and health services.
- Changes in store experience as the company refocuses on high-performing locations.
- A possible shift in loyalty programs or pharmacy policies—though no official changes have been announced yet.
Walgreens has also suspended its quarterly dividend to free up cash, signaling a strong effort to stabilize its finances.
What’s Next for Walgreens?
While Walgreens’ new private ownership allows flexibility in restructuring, the big question remains: Will these changes improve or hurt the customer experience? Sycamore Partners has a history of retail turnarounds, but only time will tell how this plays out.
For now, customers should stay updated on store closures in their areas and keep an eye on potential changes in pharmacy services. What do you think about Walgreens going private? Will it impact you? Let us know in the comments!
I wonder what the values of the private equity firm are and how they will influence the company culture. I had mentioned the lack of sustainability at Walgreens, in which they throw unsold clothing and other items into the trash instead of donating them. I also read that people feel that going private leads to “milking the company and then dissolving it,” like “going in circles around the drain.” Although this private equity firm has successfully rebounded Staples, so perhaps the track record is there to bring a great outcome. I hope so because I do most of my clearance shopping at Walgreens.
I use to work at walgreens and idk if them going private will help all the issues I saw or not but this was one of the reasons why I left. they say they care about customers and employees and I can say they do not. I will say I left on good terms and not a angry ex employee I just could not take the fact they do not care enough for disabled employees and their needs nor do they care about the laws or do they care for their customers. I was only with walgreens for a year and did not want to look for another career but within that year I saw three employees assaulted by criminals that walgreens called customers, lack of pharmacy employees, firing someone who sued them for negligence when they got injured on the job and that person won they case and they fired them, favoritism for certain people and not others, customers getting attacked by homeless people, employees picking up medical waste,used condoms, and unsafe things like human waste, used needles and so much more, and this is just some of the horrific things I seen or dealt with and corporate was no help at all they were always so invested in beating amazon and other companies they lost sight of ehat is truly important and yes I still shop there sometimes and I’m not saying all this to say stop supporting them I’m saying it because I truly think walgreens can do better and I truly hope they do especially when they do have great employees and customers but they do need change and I hope they get good hearted people to help them do that and truly I would have stayed and moved up to help more on all fronts but I just did not see that to be a possibility due to the way they run things it’s not possible to grow with the company and they have too many flaws for anyone to succeed including corporate. I was greatful for one thing from walgreens and it was that I got the push I needed to go back to school for my business degree and start my own company or at least work for a company who is genuinely honest and cares about employees and customers alike.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with Walgreens Crystal. I didn’t know they are so careless towards their employees. Glad to hear you went back to school though. Wishing you all the best!
Walgreens has really gone downhill in the last few years, including the value of their rewards program. I don’t see this as a negative, except for those with insurance that demands RXs be filled there. But I think that should be illegal.