Walgreens acquires Pharmaca and will close all pharmacies, including Santa Fe
Feb. 10—Is it Medly, Pharmaca or just a soon-to-be-vacant store next to Trader Joe's?
The answer is C.
The sign may say Medly Pharmacy but since mid-December the chain reverted to its previous name — Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy.
As of Tuesday, Walgreens reached an agreement to acquire the 22-store, Boulder, Colo.,-based chain, with intentions of closing all stores by Feb. 25.
The Santa Fe Pharmaca store has a going-out-of-business notice on the door with a 50%-off sale that began Friday and will last to Feb. 25.
A filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court has Walgreens Inc. paying $19.35 million in cash for Medly's prescription files, pharmacy inventory and intellectual property, including its trademarks and logos.
Brooklyn-based Medly Health Inc. had acquired Pharmaca in June 2021 but filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December with the intention to sell the Pharmaca business line of 22 stores.
"We are pleased to have reached agreement to acquire the pharmaceutical records and other select assets across 22 Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacies and four Medly Pharmacies nationally," Walgreens spokeswoman Kris Lathan said.
In another Walgreens written statement, senior director of external relations Fraser Engerman wrote: "Specific store details are still being finalized given the timing of the bankruptcy court's ruling Tuesday, however prescription files and inventory are expected to transfer to nearby Walgreens pharmacies by mid-February. Patients do not need to take any action. We will automatically transfer their pharmacy files to a designated Walgreens location. Patients will receive notice about any changes through mail and other means with details about continued access to their prescriptions and other services".
Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy launched in Boulder in 2000 and opened in Santa Fe in the current location in December 2004 in a former Lowe's Supermarket location. Santa Fe was Pharmaca's 11th store.
Medly was a 2017 Brooklyn start-up with only four full-service digital pharmacies on the East Coast with the concept of free, same-day home delivery of prescriptions. Medly in 2021 acquired the much larger Pharmaca and moved its corporate office to Boulder with Pharmaca's CEO becoming Medly's CEO.
Medley's cofounder and former CEO Marg Patel quietly left the company in August.
The Pharmaca in Santa Fe was rebranded as Medly in May, bringing with it a store remodel that moved the pharmacy portion of the store from the east side to the south side of the store.
