A spokeswoman for Walgreens said the company is trying to retain local employees at nearby locations. She did not directly answer a question about why the store is closing.
“When faced with the difficult decision to close a location, several factors are taken into account, including our existing footprint of stores, dynamics of the local market, and changes in the buying habits of our patients and customers,” said Karen May, a spokeswoman for Walgreens.
The closure announcement locally came as Walgreens made headlines for pharmacist walkouts in other parts of the country. Organizers told reporters this week they walked out to protest poor working conditions. They said the company places unreasonable demands on pharmacy workers without adequate staffing, according to USA Today.
“The closure of the Locust Street store is unrelated to the walkouts,” May said on Tuesday. “The vast majority of our 9,000 locations continue to serve our patients and customers.”
Walgreens announced in June plans to close 150 stores by next summer. At the time, the company cited lagging sales, in part because of lower COVID-19 vaccine and testing sales, according to the Associated Press.
In Oxford, there is a CVS less than half a mile from Walgreens. The closest Walgreens to Oxford is 11 miles away, in Hamilton.
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