Walgreens aims to close about 200 US stores

Walgreens plans to close about 200 U.S. stores as the nation's largest drugstore chain expands on a $1 billion cost-reduction plan it announced last August.

The Deerfield, Ill., company said today that it also will reorganize its corporate operations and streamline its information technology and other functions. It expects the moves to add $500 million to its estimate for cost savings from its three-year plan.

The store closings amount to about 2 percent of the 8,232 drugstores it runs in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Spokesman Michael Polzin said Walgreens hasn't finalized the list of stores it plans to shutter, and the closings will be scattered around the country.

Walgreen said its moves will lead to a "faster and more agile company." It expects to book pre-tax charges for the restructuring of between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion as it implements the program.