US Drugstore Retailer Rite Aid Shuts Down Its Remaining Locations
This well-known American drugstore retailer Rite Aid has confirmed the closure of its final stores.
Over the weekend, the firm's online portal was updated with a notice stating: "All Rite Aid locations have now shut down. We thank our loyal patrons for their many years of support." The site also provided a link for customers to request their pharmacy records.
Established in 1962, the firm was once one of the largest pharmacy chains in the United States. At its peak, Rite Aid counted approximately 5,000 locations.
However in recent years, the chain faced financial struggles and a Justice Department investigation. By Friday fewer than 100 stores remained.
Rite Aid had filed for bankruptcy in late 2023 and then in mid-2025.
The firm also faced lawsuits over its involvement in the opioid epidemic. In 2022, Rite Aid agreed to pay up to $30 million to settle legal claims claiming it fueled the flow of opioids in the United States.
In the subsequent year, in its 2023 bankruptcy filing, the company said that reorganization would help it "resolve legal disputes."
Rite Aid also encountered a federal lawsuit in which officials alleged the firm's locations filled unlawful prescriptions for powerful painkillers. The company agreed to settle in July 2024.
Additional American drugstore chains have likewise been closing retail locations throughout the country, though different reasons have been cited.
From 2021 onward, CVS has closed more than 1,000 stores as part of a broader initiative.
Separately, Walgreens, which was recently purchased by private equity firm Sycamore Partners, closed 500 stores over the past year.
Industry observers have raised worries about growing "drugstore deserts" in the US, where a large number of people live without a pharmacy nearby and must commute to have medications filled.
