Rite Aid closing nearly 40 stores in Pennsylvania amid bankruptcy

Through its Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, Rite Aid announced it is closing more than 150 stores, including nearly 40 across the commonwealth.

Rite Aid plans to close about 7% of its stores initially, including almost 40 in Pennsylvania, as the drugstore chain makes its way through its Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.

The company submitted a list of 154 stores it plans to close in a court filing. Most of the chain’s stores are on the East and West coasts, and the list reflects that.

In addition to the locations in Pennsylvania, other states where the drugstore chain plans to close include New York, New Jersey, California, Washington, Michigan, and Ohio. 

The company has lost about $1.3 billion in the first half of its fiscal year. That’s more than double the $441 million it lost in the same period during the previous fiscal year. Rite Aid said in its Tuesday bankruptcy court filing that it also may close additional stores. 

The drugstore chain said it will continue to fill prescriptions at the stores due to close and take  online shopping orders, as well as honor rewards members specials.

The Philadelphia company has struggled financially for years and also faces financial risk from lawsuits over opioid prescriptions like its bigger rivals, CVS and Walgreens.

Closings like Rite-Aid’s can create so-called “pharmacy deserts,” or neighborhoods without easy access to a drugstore. That can be poor neighborhoods where residents are less likely to own cars and a drugstore is more than half a mile away. It also refers to rural areas where drug stores may be miles away.

Aside from filling prescriptions, many of these stores also have become growing sources for annual vaccines and health care in recent years.

Store Closures

The following Rite-Aid locations in Pennsylvania are closing:

• Parade Street, Erie
• North Fifth Street, Philadelphia
• Main Street, Pennsburg 
• Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia 
• Old York Road, Abington
• Market Street, Johnstown 
• New Falls Road, Levittown 
• Bustleton Avenue, Philadelphia 
• West Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore
• East Washington Lane, Philadelphia 
• Wyoming Avenue Suite 9, West Pittston 
• Heacock Road, Yardley 
• West Dauphin Street, Philadelphia 
• Liberty Street, Erie 
• Route 196, Suite 14, Tobyhanna 
• West 9th Street, Chester
• East Baltimore Pike, Yeadon 
• Stenton Avenue, Philadelphia 
• Oxford Avenue, Philadelphia 
• Lansdowne Avenue, Philadelphia  
• Stevenson Boulevard, New Kensington
• East Central Avenue, Titusville 
• South West End Boulevard, Quakertown 
• North 63rd Street, Philadelphia 
• Brighton Avenue, Rochester 
• Library Road, Bethel Park 
• University Boulevard, Moon Township 
• Saw Mill Run Boulevard, Pittsburgh 
• Keeport Drive, Pittsburgh 
• Route 30, Greensburg 
• William Penn Highway, Export 
• Wilmington Road, New Castle 
• West Union Boulevard, Bethlehem 
• South Fourth Street, Allentown
• East Venango Street, Philadelphia 
• Torresdale Avenue, Philadelphia 
• West Ridge Avenue, Conshohocken 
• Eisenhower Drive, Hanover 
• Wertzville Road, Mechanicsburg