Rite Aid closes all of its stores nationwide
Rite Aid, a major American drugstore chain founded in 1962, has permanently closed all of its stores nationwide after more than 60 years in operation. The company announced the closure on its website, thanking customers for their support and providing details on how to obtain prescription and immunization records or find where prescriptions have been transferred.Rite Aid faced years of financial difficulties, filing for bankruptcy in October 2023 and again in May 2024. Efforts to restructure included closing hundreds of stores and seeking buyers, but ultimately all stores were shuttered. Key factors contributing to Rite Aid’s decline include corporate mismanagement, numerous lawsuits related to illegal painkiller prescriptions, and intense competition from rivals such as CVS and Walgreens. These competitors have also faced challenges, closing many stores amid rising retail crime and economic pressures.
Rite Aid closes all of its stores nationwide
More than 60 years after Rite Aid was founded, the American drugstore chain has closed all of its stores across the country.
The pharmacy chain announced in a post to its website on Friday that all stores have been shuttered, thanking customers for their years of support.
Rite Aid’s website now directs former customers to a page on how to obtain and request prescription and immunization records as well as how to find which pharmacy their prescriptions have been transferred to.
The closure follows years of financial struggle for the chain, which first filed for bankruptcy in October 2023.
Rite Aid closed hundreds of stores at the time in an effort to refinance and restructure their operations, reducing the company’s debt.
However, Rite Aid again filed for bankruptcy in May of this year.
At the time, CEO Matt Schroeder said the company was looking for a buyer and planned to keep its stores open as it navigated the Chapter 11 protection program.
Around 1,250 stores were open this spring.
Rite Aid was founded in 1962 and at its peak operated more than 5,000 stores, according to independent retail news site Drug Topics.
Some of Rite Aid’s financial woes were self-inflicted, as retail expert Peter Cohan, an associate professor of management practice at Babson College, previously told the Washington Examiner that corporate mismanagement played a large role.
Other factors include hundreds of lawsuits against the company regarding illegal painkiller prescriptions and increased competition with rivals like CVS and Walgreens.
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These rival drugstore chains have not come out unscathed either, as both have struggled to keep their stores open amid increased retail crime and higher costs of living.
In October of last year, Walgreens said it would be shuttering around 1,200 stores nationwide. Meanwhile, CVS is on track to have closed over 1,000 stores by the end of this year since 2022.
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