Drugstore chain Walgreens aims to close about 200 US stores, expands cost-reduction plan

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, Illinois, company says 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 estimated 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.

Late last year, Walgreens completed a nearly $16 billion deal to purchase the remaining stake of European health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots that it didn't already own. The company was renamed Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.