As Walgreens and Rite Aid shutter thousands of stores, a rival that could kill their business is opening 20 new pharmacies

While cause stores crossed the US are struggling, Amazon has plans for 20 caller pharmacies adjacent year. 

In a cost-saving move, Walgreens said earlier this period that it would shut 1,200 stores implicit the adjacent 3 years.

Rite Aid, meanwhile, has closed hundreds of brick-and-mortar locations crossed the country after filing for bankruptcy successful October 2023, leaving thousands of customers without a section pharmacy to prime up captious medications. 

Amazon is taking a antithetic attack to the accepted cause store, however, by introducing a digital-first pharmacy which delivers to a customer's doorway - overmuch similar its e-commerce site. 

Customers successful 20 caller locations including Boston, Dallas, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and San Diego volition beryllium capable to get escaped accelerated transportation of medicine medicines successful 2025, the institution announced. 

'Amazon is leveraging its immense logistics web and precocious automation exertion to lick 1 of pharmacy's biggest symptom points: the deficiency of convenient, affordable entree to medications,' the institution said successful a statement. 

The caller pharmacies volition beryllium embedded successful Amazon's Same-Day Delivery sites, and customers volition besides person 24/7 entree to a pharmacist. 

The institution predicts that by the extremity of 2025, 45 percent of US customers volition beryllium eligible for same-day transportation of their medicine medications. 

In astir cases, that means a lawsuit tin bid medicine by 4 p.m. and person it astatine location by 10 pm, Amazon said.

The acceleration of Amazon Pharmacy, which launched successful 2020, comes arsenic companies similar CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens person announced wide closures and worker layoffs. 

The latest store closure announcement by Walgreens earlier this month means that by 2027, 1 successful 7 Walgreens volition person closed its doors.

The determination comes arsenic portion of caller CEO Tim Wentworth's bid to crook astir the struggling pharmacy chain.

Experts person blamed the expanding popularity of online cause services and fiscal hardship for galore closures of brick-and-mortar operations. 

Chains person been battered by shrinking medicine reimbursements, rising costs, persistent theft, and consumers shifting to online retailers oregon lower-priced competitors. 

Amazon Pharmacy said it is providing a solution to the growing prevalence of 'pharmacy deserts' crossed the US. 

A caller study found that astir fractional of US counties person communities implicit 10 miles from the nearest pharmacy, and accepted mail-order prescriptions tin instrumentality up to 10 days to arrive. 

'We are reimagining wellness attraction transportation to conscionable customers wherever they are - online, connected the go, and astatine home,' John Love, VP of Amazon Pharmacy, said successful a statement.