Walgreens sends truckloads of inventory to dump

Workers cleared out the Walgreens in Jackson, Wyoming, on Thursday, sending the inventory to the landfill.

That Walgreens has been closed since the Budge Drive landslide threatened the store in 2014. It has remained closed for safety reasons, but now city leaders say Walgreens is leaving town without much warning or negotiation.

Truckloads of unused inventory were taken to the dump in Jackson Hole. The merchandise included paper towels, toilet paper, canned foods, toys, health care items and cleaning supplies.

Walgreens would not comment on the disposal of the products, but Jackson Mayor Sara Flitner says what it is doing hurts the city and is simply wasteful.

“Walgreens made no effort whatsoever to communicate with anyone in the local community, and the result of that is that the products that were perfectly usable went to our landfill, and by the time I found out that that was happening, they were already in transit to Idaho Falls,” she said.

Those dumping the merchandise say the store’s insurance policy dictates all inventory from a decommissioned store is to be considered trash – not something that could be donated.

The store had been closed for nearly a year before the announcement that it would be decommissioned.