Walgreens permanently closing stores to impact some pharmacy customers in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The commute to pick up prescriptions will soon take longer for some in Louisville, as a major pharmacy retailer announced it will close four stores.

Walgreens will permanently close four of its Louisville locations next month, and relocation addresses are already posted outside the stores that will close.

The company said its store at 4149 Taylor Blvd., near Bluegrass Avenue between the Beechmont and Hazelwood neighborhoods in southwest Louisville, will close Nov. 7. That location will move patients to 5201 South 3rd Street.

The store at 7500 Terry Road, near Greenwood Road in the Pleasure Ridge Park neighborhood, will close Nov. 9.

The 700 Algonquin Parkway location, at Taylor Boulevard in the Taylor Berry neighborhood near Churchill Downs, will close Nov. 14. Those patients will be relocated to the store at 3980 Dixie Highway.

The store at 200 East Broadway and South Brook Street in downtown Louisville will close Nov. 17. Those patients will be relocated to the store at 990 Baxter Avenue.

For customer Lorie Swanks, her five-minute bus ride to get to Walgreens on Algonquin Parkway will turn into a 15-minute bus ride to the next closest store.

"It's going to be tough at nighttime, especially when buses don't run after 10 p.m.," said Swanks. "Going to miss it, it's convenient."

The stores closing over the course of November are around downtown and Southwest Louisville.

In a statement, a Walgreens spokesperson said:

"As we expand as a leader in healthcare, we are focused on best meeting the needs of patients and customers in communities we serve by creating the right network of stores in the right locations. When faced with the difficult task of closing a particular location, several factors are taken into account, including things like the dynamics of the local market and changes in the buying habits of our patients and customers, for example.

In most cases, patients do not need to take any action. We automatically transfer their pharmacy files to the nearest Walgreens. Patients receive notice about any changes through mail and other means to provide details about continued access to their prescriptions and other services."

Richard Blasi lives directly next door to the Taylor Boulevard location. He thinks its closure has less to do with customers habits changing, and more with the theft he said he's witnessed out the back door.

"I saw two guys pushing carts full of whiskey. Now whiskey is pretty expensive nowadays, so you're talking about hundreds of dollars going out. I ran out (to) them told them, 'Call the police, call the police, you're being robbed,' they looked at me like I'm nuts," Blasi said.

Councilwoman Keisha Dorsey represents District 3. Her district includes the Algonquin Parkway location. Her biggest concerns include ensuring the next business at that location doesn't face similar problems as Walgreens, and customers at the Algonquin Parkway location know their options for prescriptions once it closes.

"One of the most convenient ways if they do, if they do choose would be mail-order," Dorsey said. "And then making sure that they understand that there is another retailer within (close) proximity, that being Kroger."

If customers choose to keep their prescriptions with Walgreens, the company said prescriptions files will automatically relocate to the next closest pharmacy. Re-location addresses are posted outside the closing stores.

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