Rite Aid stores closing: Here's what's next

Rite Aid customers can prepare for significant changes as the national drugstore chain moves deeper into bankruptcy proceedings. 

The company announced that many of its locations will either close or change ownership in the coming months.

Rite Aid stores closing

By the numbers:

The company runs 1,245 stores in 15 states, according to its website. It has a heavy presence in New York, Pennsylvania and California, which alone has 347 locations.

As part of the restructuring, Rite Aid plans to sell off key assets — including prescription files, and inventory — while shutting down distribution centers and store locations. 

Shelves, many bare of merchandise, stand in a Rite Aid store in Brooklyn on August 28, 2023 in New York City. (Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Although stores remain open for now, the chain has stopped ordering new inventory, which means shoppers can expect to see increasingly empty shelves.

What they're saying:

 "I think what we’ll progressively see is the stores will become more and more spartan," said retail analyst Neil Saunders.

How long will stores remain open?

What's next:

Rite Aid says a few months for most of its stores. All locations will eventually close or be sold to a new owner.

Until then, customers will still be able to fill prescriptions, get immunizations and shop in the stores or online.

Rite Aid has said that it will stop issuing customer rewards points for purchases. It also will no longer honor gift cards or accept returns or exchanges starting next month.

Rite aid said it is working to put together a "smooth transfer" of customer prescriptions to other pharmacies. However, there’s no guarantee those files will wind up at a retailer near the location that is closing.

Rite Aid files for bankruptcy

The backstory:

The Philadelphia-based company has been closing stores and struggling with losses for years before its first bankruptcy filing in 2023.

The company said its "only viable path forward" is a return to Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

The company said in letter to vendors that it had been hit with several financial challenges that have grown more intense.

EARLIER: Rite Aid to close over two dozen stores amid bankruptcy proceedings

Rite Aid and its competitors have been dealing with tighter profits on their prescriptions, increased theft, court settlements over opioid prescriptions and customers who are drifting to online shopping and discount retailers.

Walgreens, which has more than six times as many stores as Rite Aid, agreed in March to be acquired by the private equity firm Sycamore Partners.