Walgreens set to close in Bronzeville: 'It's gonna hurt'

Bronzeville residents will have one less pharmacy to pick up their prescriptions without the Walgreens at 3405 S. King Drive.

“I don’t know why they want to take Walgreens away,” said Sheila Carey, 53, after her monthly visit to pick up prescriptions. “It’s convenient.”

Carey walks to and from the Walgreens when she needs to use the pharmacy. She said she will now have to get her prescriptions sent to a nearby Walgreens. The one she names, at 47th and Halsted, is 3 miles away.

The Bronzeville Walgreens, which is set to shut Wednesday, joins five total closing in Chicago, all on the South and West sides of the city. The stores are part of the company’s plan to close 1,200 stores over three years.

The nearest convenience store operating with pharmacy services like Walgreens is more than 2 miles away. There is a pharmacy blocks away in Mariano's grocery store at 38th and King Drive.

The South and West sides have fewer pharmacy locations than other areas of the city, a 2022 WBEZ investigation showed.

A pharmacy desert is an area where at least one-third of residents live over a mile from a pharmacy, or where more than a third of residents with limited vehicle access are more than half a mile away from the nearest pharmacy.

Access to the two largest pharmacy chains in Chicago — Walgreens and CVS — is much higher in the city’s white communities than in Black or Latino areas, a 2022 WBEZ analysis showed.

Angela Owens, mother of 10-year-old twins, went to Walgreens to get medicine for her sick son after his hospital discharge.

“It’s gonna hurt, it really will,” said Owens, who lives across the street from the store. “This has been our Walgreens for over 14 years ... to see it leave is very painful. There's a lot of seniors in this area that depend on this pharmacy. ”

The company’s plan to close underperforming locations was announced last October.

“Increased regulatory and reimbursement pressures are weighing on our ability to cover the costs associated with rent, staffing and supply needs,” the company said in a statement. When closures are necessary, like those here in Chicago, we will work in partnership with community stakeholders to minimize customer disruptions.”

But the ward’s alderman, Ald. Lamont Robinson (4th), blamed the company for its abrupt closure.

“After decades of loyalty from our community, Walgreens has chosen to turn its back on residents,” Robinson said in a statement to the Sun-Times. “This absence would require residents to travel over a mile to another location or seek alternative options for filling prescriptions, causing a noticeable gap in health services and access to groceries and other essentials.”

Since being “alerted” of the closure, Robinson said he has been speaking with other national pharmacies about filling the space in Bronzeville.

“Conversations are ongoing, but I am hopeful that we can secure a replacement," he said.

During the store’s final week, prices on some items were discounted 50%. The shelves of discounted items were quickly picked through, but some shoppers were not pleased with the discounted items.

Donna Johnson, 64, headed into the store recently check out sales but left disappointed.

“When I was just coming in, I see everybody coming out here empty-handed, so I'm thinking, it's closed. So when I came in here and I'm seeing the prices, that's why nobody is buying anything, because it's too high still,” Johnson said.

Other residents noted problems with the pharmacy’s timeliness.

“There’s always so many people at the pharmacy never getting their prescriptions on time,” said Pearl Anderson, 70. “Sometimes they are very ill, and they don’t have another way to get somewhere else. Walgreens is not the spot.”

“At Walgreens they say [prescriptions are] ready … and then they say our computer was messed up and we made mistakes. Nobody got time for that,” added Johnson. “My father, before he passed, he told me, ‘Walgreens ain't nothing, don't go there.’ But I didn't listen. But now I see what he's talking about.”

Once known as the city’s “Black Metropolis,” Bronzeville has seen several closures of major stores in recent years. A nearby Walmart in the ward abruptly closed in 2023.

“Bronzeville’s a great community, once the most fabulous one in Chicago,” said Anderson. “So why eliminate everything out of this community? It’s just not appropriate. We all need the best that we can get. That's not some people, not certain races, but all races. We all need support.”