Rite Aid Is Closing 45 More Stores in 2024—Here’s Where
iStock
Last year, major drugstore chains—including Walgreens and CVS —closed a significant number of stores throughout the U.S. Rite Aid also saw major closures in 2023, and now, the retailer just announced that it plans to continue downsizing and will shutter at least 45 more stores in 2024.
RELATED: Big Lots Closing More Stores in the Coming Weeks—Here’s Where .
Rite Aid’s downfall became clear last fall. On Oct. 15, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid steadily declining sales and an accumulated $3.3 billion in debt, CNN reported. Rite Aid had around 2,100 U.S. stores last October, but with the bankruptcy filing, the company announced that it would be closing 154 locations .
Since then, Rite Aid stores have been continually closing across the country. But now, three new court documents from this month reveal that the company is planning to close even more stores in 2024.
The first filing from Jan. 4 showcases 15 additional Rite Aid stores set to close. This affects locations in New York, New Hampshire, Michigan, Washington, California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, Idaho, and Virginia. The next document posted on Jan. 9 details 18 more closures in the following states: New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington, and Oregon.
Finally, the most recent court docket from Jan. 16 has added 12 additional closures to Rite Aid’s growing list. California, New York, Ohio, and Oregon will be affected once again, while Connecticut and Delaware are also both set to lose a location.
RELATED: CVS Is Closing Dozens of Pharmacies, Starting Next Month .
At the time of the bankruptcy filing, Rite Aid CEO Jeffrey Stein indicated that the company was planning to “move ahead” with several transformation initiatives. “Rite Aid has served customers and communities across our country for more than 60 years,” he said in an Oct. 2023 release . “We remain focused on serving our customers and communities, and we are grateful that they continue to choose our stores and pharmacies for their healthcare needs.”
One of these major initiatives is centered around optimizing the company’s store footprint, and the retailer has already warned that it may continue to permanently pare down its physical spaces as it works to overcome bankruptcy.
“In connection with the court-supervised process, the company will continue assessing its footprint and close additional underperforming stores,” Rite Aid stated in its release. “These efforts will further reduce the company’s rent expense and are expected to strengthen its overall financial performance.”
CVS Is Closing Dozens of Pharmacies, Starting Next Month
Shutterstock
For many of us, the ease of being able to pick up prescriptions while also checking off our grocery list at stores like Target with a built-in CVS Pharmacy doesn’t go unnoticed. The partnership between Target and CVS has saved countless shoppers from having to make multiple errand stops, ever since CVS Health Corp.’s acquisition in 2015, per The Wall Street Journal . However, it’s a luxury that won’t be around for much longer—at least not for certain customers.
RELATED: Rite Aid Is Closing 19 More Stores Amid Bankruptcy—Here’s Where .
Starting in February, CVS will slowly begin to shut down dozens of its pharmacies inside Target stores for good, Amy Thibault , a spokesperson for CVS Pharmacy, confirmed in an email to Best Life.
“The closures are part of our plan to realign our national retail footprint and reduce store and pharmacy density and are based on our evaluation of changes in population, consumer buying patterns and future health needs to ensure we have the right pharmacy format in the right locations for patients,” she continued.
The closures are expected to continue through April. CVS currently operates 1,800 pharmacies inside Target stores across the country. At this time, Thibault said CVS will not be sharing a list of the locations that are closing.
If your prescriptions are being filled at one of the impacted locations, Thibault assured that all medications will be transferred to another nearby CVS Pharmacy store “to ensure patients have uninterrupted access to pharmacy care.” As for the impacted employees, CVS Health will be offering them “comparable roles within the company.”
If you’ve been following the retail pharmacy chain in the news, this major reduction may not be all that surprising. In late 2021, CVS Health announced that it would be closing 300 stores per year through 2024 as part of the company’s “new retail footprint strategy.”
Florida, Missouri, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Iowa are just some of the places witnessing a reduction in CVS locations . Distribution centers are also being re-evaluated.
CVS isn’t the only retail pharmacy feeling the heat, of course. Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy in October of last year, and has been steadily closing locations since. And Walgreens is in the midst of its own closures, having announced in June 2023 that it would be closing 450 locations .
