This is coming from your friends across the highway in Deerfield (for now) at Essendant. Sycamore will destroy Walgreens and it will be torture before death. Watch out for yourself, try to get out, don't wait around for things to get better or any claims of severance payouts or bonuses. If not be ready for that day to happen at any moment. Don't get comfortable. This is just the beginning, they are not out for the best interests of the company or employees but rather their assets and any money they can su-k away. For a little context, at Essendant, they bought in their own management to play the game from the top. You have them now. First they need to get rid of employees so they would try to make people quit, RTO, unachievable goals, confusing business model/plans. Then they would change the severance policy, usually days before the layoffs and reduce it every time until there's nothing left. They will start selling off anything they can, in our case the core of the business, the warehouses, and business units they could get money for they sold. They sold off the core of the business, and all that remains is the empty shell of what once was a fortune 500 company. Always with the narrative it was low performing or best for the business. The top people will leave, they will torture anyone willing to stay on because they know they are desperate until the end. It might not have been great before, but it's surely not going to get any better. Also, it appears we will be abandoning Deerfield at the end of 2025 (in days), leaving the lease for the HQ building, with no plans on what will happen next. Bankruptcy maybe? Our parent company Staples is just holding on as well, and Quill also nearby saw their whole company be destroyed. All the other Sycamore holdings are also just barely existing just to keep those assets on a balance sheet so they can convince investors to move onto the next victim. Walgreens is and will be nothing more than a cash grab and a way to pad their holdings. There is no long term strategy, no business plan, and everything will just be scam. Just look at the partnerships with Amazon for their other businesses. It's all a distraction, and minor income, distracting from what is really happening. Wish you well and in closing, please care for yourself, find something else, f*** the PE.
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Personally just got let go today so the warning is legit hombres!
@14k My favorite is when 3 meds get prescribed and patient needs all of them today but 2 get sent to Cenfill. Maybe they'll get them tomorrow. Who knows?
@zv this is the attitude why the company su-ks. No customer should need to know what cenfill is and adjust their behavior for it. Plus sometimes scripts are sent there and sometimes they're not and it's not up to the customer to guess around.
@10m yes ole Tim was brought in to sell Walgreens. Snake in the grass, didn’t trust him from the beginning. Although I think Sycamore will try to revive Walgreens and go public again and walk away with millions. We are wheels on the bus, hope there is not a blow out
@10h hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Gulp. Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Good one. Gotta love ol’ Tim. He sure sold us a bill of goods as he walked away with his loot. Easy pickings.
@10c Walgreens will never close and Sycamore is not like all those other private equity firms that are just in it to make a buck. Tim Wentworth said they have a real interest in turning Walgreens around and I wholeheartedly believe him!
@vs let's not pretend staples is Walgreens. Can only sell so much computer paper. I'm shocked the doors are still open, PE or not.
@wn Cenfill, if properly executed, could work for maintenance meds as long as patients are keeping aware of when they need to reorder. Too often, people wait until they take their last pill to reorder thinking that Walgreens can take care of their needs on the same day as we did in the past.
@vz keep drinking the kool aid. You are one the those that won't leave until they let you go. sad
Cenfill could work but as a customer idk what is happening with refill requests being delayed. Like I get a script every month and some how it's always late from central fill.
@vz No doubt there is plenty of speculation regarding what Sycamore has in store for Walgreens. The time-line and severity of job cuts may be hard to predict but it's almost a certainly that many will impacted. Working in Centralized Services gives one a pretty good picture of how broken things are in our pharmacies. Some of the problems (PBMs) are beyond Walgreen's control but understaffing and out-dated technology are problems our company created. A fair share of customers aren't too thrilled with Cenfill as well. We are moving in the opposite direction of what our customers want. Walgreens reputation for good service has been severely compromised. Just Google customer reviews for Walgreens pharmacies. Its doubtful that Sycamore will be able to or actually intends to restore Walgreens to its former glory. An earlier post predicted the eventual outcome will be bankruptcy. Given Sycamore's track record, that seems like distinct possibility.
@v4 anything written on here is pure speculation. None of these people know anything. Do I personally think it’s not gonna be great? Yes. Do I think Walgreens will cease to exist? No! But only a small group of people know and honestly it would be in their best interest to make it work and turn it around. Flip it take it public and make way more than they would by picking it apart. Time will tell!
As someone who was at Staples when it was purchased by Sycamore, this is spot on.
@r8 Respectfully, how do you know that decisions have already been made to lay off 30 - 40% of the workforce? I’ve heard that only the sycamore people know what the plan is (and rumors are that it will be 20%). And that no directors, managers, etc have a clue. Also, how do you know the January/February timeline? Serious questions. Would appreciate any honest info anyone has.
@qv it’s already started but it kinda looks like this:
anything not nailed to the ground is sold
any kind of corporate perk ki-led off unceremoniously. I hope no one is too attached to the fitness center because that su---r is gonna be GONE. Same with the pharmacy/wellness center in 108.
All executive time will be spent on making the Sycamore investors happy. The leadership team will make big promises because that’s what PE demands, and when those promises can’t be met, the ax will swing.
30-40% of the corporate workforce will vanish in January-February. Those decisions have already been made.
That Christmas lunch a few weeks ago? Yeah…that’s the last time it’s ever gonna happen.
Insurance coverage will get worse and more expensive.
It will get very quiet in Deerfield. The veterans who somehow survive will reminisce about the good old days of 2025 when the place was full after RTO.
This is just a small taste of what’s coming.
@qq "I’ve worked for several PE companies and know exactly how this is gonna play out."
How does it play out. Details please.
Best to you and your new job!
Currently a contractor but I’m turning in my notice on Monday and going to one of the Big 10 tax/audit/wealth advisory firms in the nation. I’ve worked for several PE companies and know exactly how this is gonna play out, so as soon as I had the chance to jump to a company with a private ownership structure you bet your a-s I took it.
Every time I walk around Deerfield and OPO I’m just sad because I know there are a lot of good people (and some pretty rotten people too) who are about to have their worlds rocked when they company they thought cared about them tosses them out onto Wilmot Road.
Employees have left. Think back 2 years ago, think back 10 years ago, most of those people who were there are gone.
Even if an employee didn't leave, Walgreens has slashed store positions by, what now, I mean, at least 50% I would say and probably higher than that. 50% of people who used to work in the stores are already gone.
I don't think it is reasonable to expect zero people to work for Walgreens. Someone is going to apply and work there.
Store managers should run like he-l!
Store Managers should be proactive and find other employment! Be prepared, news can hit anytime! Don't hold on until your job is gone!
@OP Thanks for heads-up on possible things to expect from Sycamore. While I feel for the many dedicated employees that are hanging in there, hoping for a turnaround that may never come, I couldn't give rat's behind what happens to Walgreens. A company that treats its employees as poorly as this company can expect failure. If I remember, Tim Wentworth made a qualified statement saying our benefits would remain the same under Sycamore. With the elimination of paid holidays, that has proven to be false. What's next? Reduced vacation or less 401k contribution? As an earlier post stated, Walgreens and Sycamore have different objectives . Sycamore's goal is to extract as much value as possible from what is left of Walgreens. Nothing more.
@OP Went from over 50 warehouses to 5. 100 year old company is now smaller than it was in 1970. Don't believe me? Just search the news, and look for the auction sales to cash out on the equipment in those warehouses. Look at the layoff numbers, and those will not even include the corporate office in Deerfield which is now vacant.