Unfortunate News for Customers: Bankrupt Pharmacy Chain’s Closure Wave Extends in Virginia.
Bankrupt pharmacy chain Rite Aid continues to close locations across the United States. Unfortunately, for residents of Virginia, another three locations in the state have been added to the closure list this week.
Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy in October after incurring $ 3.3 billion in unpaid debt. Over the past six years, Rite Aid has recorded almost $3 billion in losses and seen its stock price drop 90%.
Rite Aid operates over 2,330 stores in 17 U.S. states, but this number is rapidly declining and will soon drop below 2000. In October, as part of its bankruptcy filing, it announced that 154 locations nationwide would soon close, but this list has been added to several times and has now passed 250.
In the retailer’s Dec. 19 filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, three more Virginia locations were listed to close.
- Smithfield: 1200 Benns Church Blvd
- Richmond: 1104 Courthouse Rd
- Portsmouth: 5914 West High St
The announcement was met with disappointment from the Mayor of Smithfield, Steve Bowen.
“We are truly disturbed by the possibility of losing a valuable piece of our community that provides a much-needed service to our citizens,” Bowman said. “In a time when our community is growing, we cannot afford to lose an establishment that is integral to our citizens’ health and well-being. We will be working with the Isle of Wight Economic Development Authority in an attempt to mitigate this potential loss”.
Rite Aid stores in Virginia Closing
With the additional three locations listed above, nine locations in Virginia will be closing. The other six locations are:
- Virginia Beach: 3653 Virginia Beach Blvd
- North Dinwiddie: 4310 Westgate Rd
- Chesapeake: 1458 Mount Pleasant Road, 833 North Battlefield Boulevard
- Norfolk: 163 W. Ocean View Ave
- Norfolk: 7601 Granby St
- Williamsburg: 4501 News Rd
“The court-supervised process provides Rite Aid with legal tools to accelerate our footprint optimization in an efficient and orderly manner. We look forward to working closely with our landlords to determine the best path forward for each of our stores.” Jeffrey S. Stein, Rite-Aid Corp.’s new chief executive officer, chief restructuring officer and a member of the company’s board of directors
Your thoughts
Do these closures impact you? Are you concerned about the future of the Rite Aid business? Do you fear too many pharmacy stores are closing?
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