Walgreens Closing Additional Locations in Illinois and Wisconsin
Last year, Walgreens made national news after closing 1,500 locations nationwide, including ones in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. While not near that figure, Walgreens has closed additional stores in a number of states, with more in Illinois and Wisconsin disappearing as a result.
In August 2025, Walgreens was acquired by Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm, who committed to a multiyear "turnaround program." Unfortunately, albeit predictably, a big part of the turnaround plan was to close numerous stores. This year, about a dozen Walgreens drugstores have closed, according to USA Today, who sourced the closings from numerous local publications.
READ MORE: A Full List of Walgreens Closures in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa in 2025
Walgreens Closures in Illinois and Wisconsin:
In total, four stores between the two states have closed, per USA Today:
- Illinois: Two stores in Chicago and another in Rockford, reported by Chicago Tribune, WLS and WIFR.
- Wisconsin: One store in Milwaukee, reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The three stores in Illinois include:
- Walgreens at 2351 E. 71st Street in Chicago
- Walgreens at 86th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue in Chatham
- Walgreens at 5503 E. State Street in Rockford
Meanwhile, the Walgreens at 2727 W. North Avenue in Milwaukee closed in late June.
In total, Walgreens is expected to close fewer than 100 stores in 2026, which was lower than initially forecasted. However, last year, Sycamore Partners envisioned closing 1,200 locations, but that number eventually rose to 1,500. In short, there's reason to believe that the larger number of closures in 2025 lessened the impact of such in 2026.
At the time of Sycamore's acquisition of Walgreens, the company reported to be operating 8,500 locations in the United States. Now, that number is about 8,000, suggesting some others have opened in the last year.
See a list of Walgreens closings in 2026 on USA Today's website.
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Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz
