Walgreens shuttering an ‘isolated business decision based on store performance’

By Walter GeigerThe Barnesville Walgreen’s location will close its doors for good at the end of business on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Prescription records from the pharmacy there will be transferred to the CVS location across Veterans Parkway.Rumors of the closing leaked out from store employees on Feb. 9. The Herald Gazette confirmed it on Feb. 10.Walgreen’s recently acquired Boots Alliance and is working on the acquisition of Rite Aid. Should that deal go through, Walgreens has agreed to sell 865 Rite Aid Stores to Fred’s to allay FTC antitrust concerns.While that has created some upheaval and unrest throughout the industry, it had absolutely nothing to do with the Barnesville shutdown decision, according to company spokesman Phil Caruso.’This is different. While we hate to close your store there in Barnesville, it had nothing to do with all the other stuff. The acquisition Rite Aid had nothing to do with it. This was an isolated business decision based solely on the performance of your store there,’ Caruso said.Caruso noted the irony of transferring records to a competitor but said the decision has been made.’We will send our records to CVS because we want our patients to have easy access to their prescriptions. The store will close at the end of business hours on Tuesday and the records will be available at CVS on Wednesday morning. It is an electronic transfer,’ he said.Walgreens pharmacy patients will receive a letter in the mail providing more information regarding their prescription records.Transferring a prescription from Walgreens to Hines Prescription Shop is also a seamless transition upon request, noted owner David Sandlin. Ingles also operates a pharmacy here. News of the closure took local government and business leaders by surprise. The local store opened in 2007.Walgreens’ decision to pull out of the local market came just days after the national chain Zaxby’s announced it would build a new restaurant at the corner of Veterans Parkway and Roberta Drive. Site prep work there is already underway.