SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Customer after customer strolled up to the doors of Walgreens on University Avenue in North Park on Thursday, only to be turned away.
The store is officially closed for good, taking many customers by surprise.
"People could end up in the hospital. People could die," said Linda Castagnola, who came to the store on Wednesday and was unable to pickup her medication.
Castagnola has been coming to this Walgreens pharmacy for nearly 20 years. She says she has been without her medication for four days.
Although a Walgreens spokesperson told ABC 10News customers were alerted "through mail and other means", many customers were blindsided by the closure.
"Most of the stuff is gone. A lot of areas are already gone and a lot of stuff they're putting in boxes now, so everything is getting removed from inside the store," said one woman who says she works for a company that has inventory inside of the Walgreens.
When asked why the store is, a spokesperson said in-part:
When faced with the difficult decision to close a location, several factors are taken into account, including our existing footprint of stores, dynamics of the local market, and changes in the buying habits of our patients and customers, among other reasons.
All prescription files have been transferred to the CVS pharmacy across the street from the Walgreens, located at 3151 University Ave. San Diego, CA 92104.
When asked if customers are able to walk into the CVS and pickup medication right away, a spokesperson for CVS said, "We received the patients' prescription files today and the team is prepared to assist them with their prescriptions and answer any questions they may have."
