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PHILADELPHIA — Rite Aid this month announced plans to close 53 more stores, adding to the roughly 200 it has shuttered since filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late last year.
Officials with the retail pharmacy chain said decisions about which stores to close are based on factors including business strategy, lease and rent considerations, local business conditions and viability, and store performance. Prescriptions are automatically transferred to a nearby Rite Aid store unless a customer requests otherwise, the company said.
Rite Aid operates 1,690 stores, according to its website. That’s down from about 2,000 locations in October, when the company filed for federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The chain has been reporting annual losses for several years and, like its rivals, faces huge financial risks from lawsuits over opioid prescriptions. Rite Aid already has reached several settlements, including one announced last year with the state of West Virginia for up to $30 million.
Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy seeking to reduce its debt, close underperforming stores and divest non-core business units. Rite Aid in January received bankruptcy court approval to sell its pharmacy benefits company, Elixir.
And last month, the company said it had entered into an asset-purchase agreement for the partial sale of its Health Dialog business to Carenet Health.
