Walgreens plans to close around 600 stores starting next spring, following its deal with Rite Aid.
Federal regulators accepted the drugstore chain’s $4.4 billion deal to buy 1,932 Rite Aid stores in September. Walgreens initially tried to buy Rite Aid outright for $17 billion in October 2015.
Now following regulatory clearance, the company will begin to close the stores, mostly of the Rite Aid brand, over an 18-month period, beginning in spring 2018.