Walgreens will close a longtime store next month at 3143 W. Colorado Ave. on Colorado Springs’ west side, the second location it’s shuttered in the area this year.

The suburban Chicago-based Walgreens confirmed via email this week that it will close the Colorado Avenue store, near 31st Street and part of the Red Rock Canyon shopping center, on Nov. 12. Walgreens also closed a store April 2 at 4305 E. Platte Ave., southeast of Platte and Murray Boulevard on the Springs’ east side.

No additional store closings are forthcoming at this time, a Walgreens spokeswoman said in the email.

The Colorado Avenue store has operated under the Walgreens flag since 2007. That year, California-based Longs Drugs closed all nine of its stores in the state; Walgreens acquired two of them in Colorado Springs, including the Colorado Avenue location, and converted them to its brand, according to Gazette archives.

The closure apparently is related to Walgreens’ ongoing financial woes.

In late June, officials with parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance said the pharmacy chain would close about one quarter of its roughly 8,600 stores nationwide as it seeks to improve its bottom line, which has been hurt, in part, because of cost-conscious customers who’ve cut back on spending due to inflation, according to several national news stories.

The company’s retail pharmacy business “remains central to our go-forward business strategy,” the Walgreens spokeswoman told The Gazette via email. And yet, she said, “increased regulatory and reimbursement pressures are weighing on our ability to serve our patients profitably. We’ve reached a point where the current pharmacy model is not sustainable and the challenges in our operating environment require that we approach the market differently.”

As a result, the spokeswoman said, Walgreens will weigh the cost to operate stores as it decides which ones to keep and which ones to close.

“We are making substantial changes to our store footprint, closing stores based on profitability including this store in Colorado Springs which is not able to cover the costs associated with rent, staffing, and supply needs,” the spokeswoman said.

Some customers who called the Colorado Avenue store were told that an increase in building rent contributed to Walgreens’ decision to close the location.

JFRCO, a Denver-based, family owned investment company that land records show owns the Walgreens building on Colorado Avenue and whose website says it owns small to large shopping centers and mixed-use buildings nationwide, didn’t respond to a phone call and emails from The Gazette seeking comment.

“While it is not an easy decision to close a store,” the Walgreens spokeswoman said, “we will work to minimize customer disruptions. We intend to redeploy the majority of our team members and offer our dedicated team members new roles at other locations.”

It’s unknown how many people worked at the Colorado Avenue store.

Customer prescriptions, meanwhile, automatically will transfer to another west side Walgreens at 625 N. 19th St., in the Uintah Gardens shopping center, the spokeswoman’s email said.