Walgreens cuts 400 jobs, closes distribution center in Edwardsville

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Walgreens Boots Alliance said Wednesday it will lay off almost 400 employees at an e-commerce shipping center in Edwardsville, Illinois.

The drugstore giant’s announcement comes six weeks after it rolled out plans to cut 504 corporate jobs in Chicago and Deerfield, or about 10% of its corporate workforce.

CEO Rosalind Brewer previously said the company is dealing with a "challenging operating environment" involving a "more cautious and value-driven consumer."

But the company’s results also have been hit by legal settlements from opioid-related litigation. In the first nine months of its fiscal year ending May 31, Walgreens reported a net loss of $2.9 billion driven mostly by a $5.5 billion charge for opioid cases. The loss compared with a profit of $4.8 billion for the same nine-month period a year ago.

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Walgreens spokesman Marty Maloney said the Edwardsville site will close later this summer. He said drugstores will assume its work of fulfilling customer orders.

"We are grateful for the many contributions our team members at this facility have made and we are committed to supporting them during this transition," Maloney said.

He said Walgreens will continue to have 16 distribution centers.

A company filing with the state said 393 workers will be affected and that all will receive 60-day notices by mid-July. The filing said the layoffs should be complete on or about Aug. 28.

Edwardsville is about 275 miles from Chicago and near St. Louis.

Walgreens said last week it will close 150 stores in the United States, where it has about 8,900 retail outlets and clinics. It also is closing 300 locations in the United Kingdom, home to about 2,600 sites.