Rite Aid, once one of the top pharmacy chains in US, has closed all of its stores in Michigan and Ohio, forcing thousands of customers to seek new places for their prescription needs. The closures come as the struggling company battles through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, attempting to stabilize after years of financial difficulty.
Court documents from Rite Aid’s bankruptcy proceedings confirm that the company has fully withdrawn from both Michigan and Ohio. The company, which once has over 2,000 locations across the United States, has been systematically downsizing since filing for bankruptcy in October 2023.
In the past month alone, Rite Aid has shuttered 74 stores, with the majority located in the two Midwestern states. Only a handful of closures occurred in California and Washington. This follows 169 store closures in July, all of which were concentrated in Michigan and Ohio. Just a year ago, these two states ranked among the highest in Rite Aid store counts nationwide. Now, all 234 Michigan locations and 183 Ohio locations have been, or are about to be, permanently closed.
The closures are indicative of the larger struggles facing the traditional drugstore model. With the rise of big-box retailers and Amazon’s entry into the pharmacy market in 2020, smaller pharmacy chains like Rite Aid have found it increasingly difficult to compete. Additionally, Rite Aid has been bogged down by a series of lawsuits accusing the company of contributing to the opioid crisis through overprescription.
Documents filed on July 29, August 2, 5, and 9 detail the most recent store closures. Industry analysts suggest that Rite Aid is retreating from regions where it cannot effectively compete with larger rivals such as CVS and Walgreens.
Once the third-largest pharmacy chain in the U.S., Rite Aid now faces an uncertain future. The company plans to emerge from bankruptcy with roughly 1,300 stores, a stark contrast to the 5,059 locations it operated at its peak in 2008. The road ahead remains unclear, as Rite Aid works to redefine its place in the rapidly evolving pharmacy landscape.
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