Lunds & Byerlys closing its 14 pharmacies

Edina-based grocer Lunds & Byerlys will close all 14 of its Twin Cities pharmacy locations at the end of the business day Tuesday, after the company said it no longer could absorb "significant losses."

A spokesman said Friday that 27 pharmacy managers and staff pharmacists will lose their jobs, but technicians have been offered open positions within the company.

"Unfortunately, it has become increasingly difficult for retail pharmacies given a number of economic challenges in the industry," said a statement from Lund Food Holdings Inc., which operates 24 stores in the Twin Cities area and St. Cloud.

Prescriptions not picked up will be sent to the closest Walgreens, though patients can work with Lunds & Byerlys to route their records and future prescriptions to a preferred location.

Independent pharmacies have struggled as the industry has consolidated around major players, including CVS and Walgreens. Cub operates its own pharmacy, but Target sold off its business to CVS in 2015.

Lunds & Byerlys, a family-owned grocery chain, has had a pharmacy in its stores since 2004, when it launched the PrairieStone Pharmacy brand in the Twin Cities.

"Best-of" lists can seem ubiquitous and vapid. But Best Buy Co. Inc.'s recent ranking by Forbes as one of the nation's top employers for women was both noteworthy and decades in the making.

Using the acronym of WOLF to describe the initiative, Gilbert reported being jeered in hallways by howling men. Some men shut her out of business meetings and avoided her at work parties. Her ideas, then-CEO Brad Anderson acknowledged, were "incredibly contentious" and also "brilliant."

Within a few years of launching WOLF, the number of female Geek Squad agents had tripled, the number of female general managers had risen by 40% and turnover among women had slowed measurably.

The initiative has evolved into a women's employee resource group that a few weeks ago drew 400 to its annual summit.

Best Buy's new CEO Corie Barry is part of an expanding, yet still small, group of just 33 female leaders of Fortune 500 companies.

Her presence on Best Buy's board of directors tipped the gender balance to seven women and six men.

The company has on-site child care and recently expanded and renovated its mother's rooms. A year ago, the company began offering up to four weeks of paid leave to bond with a child or care for a family member's health condition.

Best Buy ranked No. 7 out of 300 companies on the Forbes list of most America's best companies for women.

Other Minnesota companies named in the top 100 included Mayo Clinic (14), Great Clips (17), General Mills (39), 3M (94) and Allianz (98).

Companies were ranked based on surveys from 60,000 U.S. employees, including more than 40,000 women. Evaluations were based on workers' views on their corporation's atmosphere and development, image, working conditions, wages and diversity.

Companies were also judged on parental leave, family support, workplace flexibility and pay equity.