American Pharmacy Retailer Rite Aid Closes Its Last Outlets
The well-known American pharmacy chain Rite Aid has declared the closing of its final stores.
On Saturday, the company's online portal was updated with a announcement confirming: "All Rite Aid stores have now closed. We appreciate our dedicated patrons for their many years of patronage." The website also included a link for patrons to request their prescription records.
Established in 1962, the company was once a leading pharmacy retailers in the United States. In its heyday, Rite Aid counted approximately 5,000 stores.
But in the past few years, the company encountered financial struggles and a federal investigation. By Friday fewer than 100 stores were still open.
Rite Aid had entered bankruptcy in late 2023 and again in May 2025.
The company also faced legal troubles over its role in the opioid crisis. In 2022, Rite Aid agreed to pay as much as $30 million to settle legal claims alleging it contributed to the flow of painkillers in the United States.
A year later, in its 2023 submission, the company stated that reorganization would help it "resolve legal claims."
Rite Aid also faced a Justice Department complaint in which officials claimed the company's stores filled unlawful prescriptions for powerful painkillers. The firm reached a resolution in mid-2024.
Additional US pharmacy retailers have also been shutting down stores across the country, though various reasons have been cited.
From 2021 onward, CVS has shut down over 1,000 stores as part of a longer term move.
In a similar vein, Walgreens, which was recently acquired by investment group Sycamore Partners, shut down 500 locations over the past year.
Analysts have raised worries about growing "drugstore deserts" in the US, where a large number of people reside lacking a pharmacy close by and must travel to have prescriptions filled.
