MINNEAPOLIS — The Walgreens store located on the border of Minneapolis' Near North and Hawthorne neighborhoods is slated to close later this month, the second major business to announce a departure from north Minneapolis this week.
In a statement, a Walgreens spokesperson confirmed that the location at 627 W. Broadway Avenue will close on Feb. 22, 2023. A sign posted at the North Minneapolis initially said the store was closing on March 6.
Prescriptions filled at the pharmacy will be automatically transferred to the Walgreens located at 4100 W. Broadway Ave. in Robbinsdale.
"As we expand as a leader in healthcare, we are focused on best meeting the needs of patients and customers in communities we serve by creating the right network of stores in the right locations," the spokesperson said in a statement. "When faced with the difficult decision to close a particular location, several factors are taken into account, including our existing footprint of stores and dynamics of the local market, and changes in the buying habits of our patients and customers."
On Feb. 6, ALDI confirmed the grocery chain's location in the Jordan neighborhood of North Minneapolis will close on Sunday, Feb. 12. In ALDI's case, the company cited "the inability to renovate the store to accommodate our larger product range and our current lease term expiring" as reasons for the closure.
With ALDI and Walgreens set to close, residents in the area will be left with only one major grocery chain and pharmacy to buy from in North Minneapolis, the Cub Foods at 701 W. Broadway Avenue.
Ward 4 city council member LaTrisha Vetaw told KARE 11's Kiya Edwards that had she learned about the ALDI closure sooner, she would've fought for it to stay.
"I fear that people are going to go to suburban grocery stores. We're going to lose that business inside of Minneapolis," she said. "One of the things I think of is the access to fresh fruit and vegetables that we always talk to people about having and this ALDI provided that … It's going to be a huge inconvenience to those folks. I spoke with a man over the weekend who said he bought his house because the ALDI was right across the street."
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