More Spokane-area Rite Aid stores added to closure list
As part of its ongoing bankruptcy, Rite Aid recently added several more stores to its closure list, including two in Spokane.
Rite Aid currently has seven locations in Spokane after it closed its downtown store in 2023.
But a list submitted in federal bankruptcy court in New Jersey added several more as part of a total of more than 1,400 stores the business is closing nationwide as part of its Chapter 11 reorganization.
The new stores on the list include the Rite Aid at 4514 S. Regal St. and the one at 12420 N. Division Street, according to the list released by the company.
The closures are also hitting the area hard. The list includes stores in Hayden, Pullman, Moscow, Richland, Omak, Moses Lake and two in Kennewick.
The company is also closing scores of stores on the west side of the state.
The two Spokane stores were announced June 5 and June 6 as part of 207 additional stores nationwide. Some 23 of those are in the Evergreen state.
As part of the reorganization, CVS Pharmacy has agreed to acquire the prescription files of 625 Rite Aid pharmacies across 15 states, as well as acquire 64 Rite Aid stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
With the new filings, the Washington stores slated for closure now total nearly 50, according to the (Tacoma) News Tribune
No dates have been announced for when the stores will shutter.
Rite Aid CEO Matthew Schroeder said in a letter to employees last month that was reviewed by Bloomberg News that the drug store chain is also planning to cut jobs at its corporate offices in Pennsylvania.
Retail pharmacies have faced numerous challenges in recent years, their profits pressured by falling reimbursements for prescriptions and increased competition for household goods from online retailers and discount chains. Some drugstores have put their products behind locked barriers to deter theft, which has also created a frustrating shopping experience.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., one of the largest U.S. pharmacy chains, recently agreed to be purchased by private equity company Sycamore Partners for $10 billion.
In a brief address in May, Schroeder told employees that all Rite Aid stores would either be closed or sold, according to people familiar with the situation. The company is working with several regional and national buyers who might be interested in parts of the company, but Schroeder didn’t specify who.
Schroeder blamed the job cuts on “the dramatic downturn in the economy,” tariffs and increased costs from suppliers and landlords. Rite Aid lenders would no longer cover payroll or other employment-related expenses “if we retain the entirety of our workforce,” he said in the letter.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.