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Rite Aid announces 77 store closures to bring total in six months to 431 - is YOUR local pharmacy affected?
Another 77 Rite Aid stores will close as part of the retailer’s voluntary bankruptcy.
The closures, announced in seven court filings so far this year, will affect stores across 21 states, including California, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas.
The total number of closures announced since filing for bankruptcy in October is now 431.
The chain has been facing a series of challenges. Drugstores, generally, are struggling in the face of competition from Amazon, and big-box chains like Walmart and Target.
In addition, Rite Aid has also been unable to settle hundreds of lawsuits which have accused the company of overprescribing opioids.
Rite Aid has announced it will shut 77 stores so far in 2024. Here is how they break down per state - or scroll down to the bottom of the article for a full list
Rite Aid will shut a further 77 stores nationwide as part of its bankruptcy restructuring
Rite Aid's closures, announced in seven court filings so far this year, will affect stores across 21 states, including California , Pennsylvania , New York and Texas
The pharmacy giant filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, and said that it would shut 154 of its 2,100 stores in at least 15 states.
Over the rest of 2023, the drugstore chain announced a further 200 would be shuttered.
MassLive.com reported that seven court filings so far this year, filed on January 4, 9, 16, 23 and 30 and February 6 and 27 show a further 77 closures. That takes the total since the bankruptcy filing to 431.
The Philadelphia-based company faces more than $3.3 billion in debt, and over a thousand federal lawsuits over its alleged role in the opioid epidemic.
In June Rite Aid forecast it will generate approximately $650 million in losses next year.
Rite Aid's chief financial officer and executive vice president, Matthew Schroeder, said: 'We're constantly looking at performance of stores, particularly ones that don't have much lease life left on the lease and determining whether we've got an opportunity to continue to maximize the profitability and the efficiency of the fleet.
'I would expect us to continue to do that.'
Rite Aid filed to close 154 stores in October as it navigates Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Another 200 closures were announced in 2023. It has now filed for a futher 77 to shut in 2024. The chain previously had around 2,100 stores around the US
Rite Aid is not the only drugstore closing down locations across the country.
CVS is set to close the doors on 900 of its stores by the end of 2024, 10 percent of all its shops, as part of their online strategy.
Walgreens will also shutter 150 stores by next summer, citing slashed earnings due to plummeting demand for Covid-19 vaccines and tests.
'According to our estimates, about one in four neighborhoods are pharmacy deserts across the country,' Dima Qato, an associate professor at the University of Southern California, told The Washington Post.
'These closures are disproportionately affecting communities that need pharmacies most.'