Walgreens leaning into healthcare services
Investor coverage says Walgreens Boots Alliance is pivoting from pure retail pharmacy toward healthcare services, including moves connected to VillageMD, as it navigates retail pressure. Analysts frame the change as an operating pivot that could affect the real‑estate footprint and tenant stability for pharmacy‑anchored properties. (ad-hoc-news.de)
Walgreens is trying to make more money from healthcare services as its core drugstore business keeps shrinking. (sec.gov) The company said on June 27, 2024 that it had started a strategic and operational review of its United States healthcare portfolio, including its majority-owned VillageMD business. On August 2, 2024, Walgreens said it was weighing options that included a sale, restructuring or other strategic moves for VillageMD because of its cash needs. (sec.gov) That review came after Walgreens tied its growth plan to clinics and care delivery inside or next to stores. In March 2025, when Walgreens agreed to sell itself to Sycamore Partners, the deal included up to $3.00 a share in extra value tied to future monetization of VillageMD, Summit Health and CityMD. (businesswire.com) The shift is happening while Walgreens is also cutting back its retail footprint. In October 2024, the company said it expected to close 1,200 to 1,300 stores over three years, including about 500 stores in fiscal 2025. (sec.gov) Walgreens’ own numbers show why the strategy changed. In fiscal 2024, adjusted earnings per share fell to $2.88, and the company said growth in United States healthcare was still being outweighed by declines in United States retail pharmacy. (sec.gov) By the quarter ended February 28, 2025, the United States healthcare segment posted $2.2 billion in sales, down $23 million from a year earlier, with Walgreens citing lower VillageMD revenue and the effect of clinic closures. Total company sales still rose 4.1 percent to $38.6 billion. (businesswire.com) VillageMD was once central to Walgreens’ plan to put doctors closer to its pharmacies. But Walgreens said in March 2025 that the value of any future sale or breakup of those healthcare assets was uncertain enough that it structured part of the Sycamore deal around a contingent payout instead of guaranteed cash. (businesswire.com) Sycamore completed the acquisition on August 27, 2025, taking Walgreens private after months of restructuring pressure. The company said it would keep operating under the Walgreens and Boots names while pursuing a turnaround in pharmacy, retail and health services. (businesswire.com) For landlords and tenants around Walgreens stores, the healthcare push no longer looks like a simple add-on to the old drugstore model. It now sits inside a broader retrenchment in which clinics, stores and property needs can all be sold, closed or reshaped as Walgreens tries to stabilize the business. (sec.gov)
