Rite Aid Closes All Remaining Stores, Goes Out of Business
Rite Aid, once one of America’s biggest pharmacy chains, shuttered its remaining 89 stores this week after filing for bankruptcy in May for the second time in less than two years, reports CNN. “All Rite Aid stores have now closed. We thank our loyal customers for their many years of support,” the company said in a statement on its website. Rite Aid's website, which has since removed all of its services, remains available for former customers to request pharmaceutical records or locate another nearby pharmacy to fulfill prescriptions.
Rite Aid first filed for bankruptcy in October 2023, largely because of competition from bigger chains and its debt pile, which topped $4 billion due to expensive legal battles for allegedly filling unlawful opioid prescriptions. Rite Aid emerged from that bankruptcy in September 2024, having slashed $2 billion in debt, securing $2.5 billion in funds to maintain operations and closing about 500 locations. In May, Rite Aid had about 1,250 remaining stores, cut by about half from its 2023 operations.
Total Retail's Take: U.S. drug stores have experienced sharp declines over the last decade thanks to a confluence of factors, including shifting consumer habits, competition and changes in the pharmacy industry. Unfortunately, Rite Aid wasn't able to overcome these challenges or find a buyer after its last Chapter 11 filing in May. It wasn't alone in a struggle to keep doors open; hundreds of CVS pharmacies are set to close in 2025, and Walgreens Boots Alliance was saved from a largely disastrous run on the public markets by a private equity firm in March.
While Rite Aid's permanent closure is a blow to the U.S. drugstore industry, it's also a hit to the consumers who face a dwindling number of physical storefronts offering access to essential household goods, medicine, and prescription drugs, especially in rural towns. In May, Rite Aid announced that it sold most of its U.S. stores’ pharmacy services to rivals CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, Albertsons, and Kroger, which collectively claimed more than 1,000 locations.
If not to traditional drugstores, where is all of the pharmacy foot traffic going? Online, telehealth or mail-order pharmacies such as Amazon Pharmacy, as well as supermarkets and big-box stores that have in-store pharmacy windows like Costco, Target and Walmart, to name a few, are seeing an uptick in traffic and generating increased revenue from their pharmacy operations.
Kristina Stidham is the digital content director at Total Retail and sister brands Women in Retail Leadership Circle and Women Leading Travel & Hospitality at NAPCO Media. She is passionate about digital media and handles video, podcast and virtual event production for all brands. You can often find her at WIRLC, TR, WLT&H or industry events with her camera and podcasting equipment—or at home on Zoom—recording interviews with thought leaders and business executives.
Kristina holds a B.A. in Media Studies and Production from the Temple University Klein College of Media and Communication in Philadelphia. Go Owls! When she's not in the office, she loves to go on long walks, sing around the house, hangout with her family and two pet guinea pigs, and travel to new places.
