In another blow to Milwaukee’s grocery and pharmacy landscape, Walgreens has begun to notify customers that its midtown location at 2727 W. North Ave. will close permanently on June 23.
“Despite our actions and investments in private security, persistent safety challenges at our North Avenue store do not allow us to operate sustainably,” a Walgreens spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday, May 4.
Customers of the soon-to-be-shuttered Walgreens will have their prescriptions automatically transferred to the Miller Valley location at 3522 W. Wisconsin Ave. after the store’s closure.
Patients who shop at the North Avenue location will also be eligible for free prescription delivery for 90 days.
The only remaining pharmacy in the immediate area is Hayat Pharmacy at 1919 W North Ave.
Company says declining profits is driving shutdowns nationwide
The closure comes a year and a half after the Illinois-based company announced it planned to close about 1,200 underperforming stores across the U.S. over a three-year period due to declining profits. Walgreens said the declining profits stem from low drug reimbursement rates and slow retail sales.
According to previous reports by USA Today, over 450 Walgreens stores closed nationwide in 2025.
“We expect to significantly ramp the pace of our store closures from the first quarter level,” Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. CEO Timothy Wentworth said in a January 2025 analyst conference call.
But a Walgreens spokesperson told the Journal Sentinel on Monday that the company expects to close fewer than 100 stores nationwide in 2026 and has approved four new store openings across the country.
Midtown residents respond to news of the closing Walgreens
Beyond the Midtown neighborhood, residents in Amani, Metcalfe Park, Sherman Park, Walnut Hill and Washington Park have come to rely on the North Avenue Walgreens for pharmacy after the closure of the North 35 Street Pick ‘n Save in Metcalfe Park last July.
Many residents of nearby Wesley Scott Apartments, previously Wesley Scott Senior Apartments, depend on the Midtown Walgreens for access to life-saving medications, according to Patrice Gransberry, a former tenant of the apartment complex.
Danell Cross, deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, says she is not surprised and “cannot even be disappointed, because corporations only think about their bottom line.”
Cross, who was a customer of the Midtown Walgreens until the COVID-19 pandemic, said the store is more than a pharmacy for a neighborhood with few resources.
“I don’t go there anymore, but I know the value of it,” she said, noting the store is a one-stop shop – a place where residents can buy household essentials.
April Quevedo covers Metcalfe Park for the Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch. Contact: aquevedo@usatodayco.com.
Neighborhood Dispatch reporting is supported by Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Journal Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and reader contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Walgreens to close Midtown store on Milwaukee’s North Avenue
Reporting by April Quevedo, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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