Walgreens buying Carle RxExpress pharmacies
URBANA — Walgreens has agreed to take over the assets of Carle RxExpress and plans to continue to operate six of the 10 Carle RxExpress pharmacies, the company announced Thursday.
The other four pharmacies will close. Those include the Carle RxExpress in Danville, as well as three in Urbana at 1208 N. Cunningham Ave., in the Carle Physicians Group clinic at 1818 E. Windsor Road and in the South Clinic at 605 W. University Ave.
The South Clinic pharmacy will consolidate with the pharmacy in Carle Foundation Hospital's main lobby.
Walgreens said it is committed to hiring most of the 76 Carle RxExpress employees and will interview those who apply.
About 80 percent of the staff is expected to transfer to Walgreens, said John Snyder, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Carle Foundation.
Snyder said Carle will work with employees not hired by Walgreens to see if there are other positions for them at Carle. Those not getting positions will receive severance pay.
Discussing reasons for the sale, Snyder said Carle RxExpress has been "increasingly challenged by significant competitive pressure."
"National pharmacy chains can provide competitive pricing on generics and 90-day prescriptions discounts which Carle RxExpress has been unable to match on a sustained basis," he said.
Carle said it will work with Walgreens to ensure prescription files at closing stores are transferred to nearby Walgreens locations as smoothly as possible.
The six Carle RxExpress locations that will remain open under the Walgreens banner include:
The hospital's main lobby pharmacy at 602 W. University Ave., U.
The Old Farm Shops pharmacy at 1757 W. Kirby Ave., C.
The Carle Physicians Group clinic pharamcy at 1701 W. Curtis Road, C.
Carle RxExpress locations in Mahomet, Monticello and Bloomington.
The Danville pharmacy and the Urbana locations on Cunningham Avenue and Windsor Road are slated to close May 31. The South Clinic pharmacy is scheduled to consolidate with the main lobby pharmacy in June.
The other locations are expected to change over to Walgreens in late June and in July, when the transaction is expected to close.
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