Read previewThursday's news that Walgreens will close a "significant" number of underperforming stores threw a spotlight on struggles facing the retail pharmacy industry.
Related storiesIn short, regardless of which national pharmacy brand you pick, there's a fair chance the location in your neighborhood could close, if it hasn't already.
For starters, retail pharmacies make money in two key ways: by dispensing prescription medication and ancillary medical services, and by selling an assortment of merchandise in their "front of house" retail stores.
But even if things were going well for Walgreens, Wentworth suggested there would likely still be quite a few closures.
"I think most of us knew — when I was in the PBM [pharmacy benefit management] business — I knew that retail pharmacy was largely overbuilt for where the future was going to be."
Persons:
—, Tim Wentworth, Wentworth, Manmohan Mahajan, execs, Neil Saunders
Organizations:
Service, Walgreens, Business, CVS