Walgreens, Pizza Hut spots in SCV expected to avoid closure

Walgreens and Pizza Hut announced plans to shutter about 700 stores across the nation collectively, but Santa Clarita Valley locations aren’t expected to be affected, according to staff and vendors for the SCV locations.

Earlier this year, the drugstore chain’s parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance said it would close down 200 stores in the U.K. and review its U.S. locations.

On Tuesday, the company announced plans to close approximately 200 stores, which represent less than 3% of its 10,000 locales in the U.S., according to Alexandra Brown, a Walgreens spokesperson.

“As previously announced, we are undertaking a transformational cost-management program to accelerate the ongoing transformation of our business, enable investments in key areas and to become a more efficient enterprise,” Brown stated via email, adding the company does not plan to release a full list of which locations are closing.

Store employees at all five Walgreens locations across the SCV said they have heard about the closures but believed local stores will not be affected and shared that the Castaic locale is hiring.

The same was for all five Pizza Hut locations, according to their workers. A list of which stores will be closing out of about 500 planned has not been released, according to Brett LeVecchio of Pizza Hut’s parent company Yum! Brands.

“We are excited about collaborating with franchisees who are capable, wellcapitalized, committed to the brand, and who have a growth mindset to accelerate the closure of underperforming dine-in stores and replacement with new delivery or fast-casual delivery assets,” Greg Creed, CEO of Yum! Brands, said during an earnings call last week.

Across the U.S., there are about 6,100 traditional restaurants and an estimated 1,350 express stores. The closures could bring the store count “to as low as 7,000 locations over the next 24 months — primarily driven by closures of underperforming dine in restaurants—before rebounding to current levels and above in the future,” according to David Gibbs, president of Yum! Brands, which owns Pizza Hut.