Rite Aid plans to close hundreds of its U.S. pharmacies but said it would sell some in the Pacific Northwest to CVS Pharmacy.
The Philadelphia-based Rite Aid has faced a slew of financial troubles over the past two years. The company first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023, after which it shuttered hundreds of stores nationwide.
Now back in bankruptcy, Rite Aid announced Thursday it planned to close “more than 1,000” of its pharmacies nationwide, transferring prescriptions to other operators including CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, Albertsons and Kroger, according to a press release.
These include Rite Aid pharmacies and Bartell Drugs stores, a pharmacy chain serving the Seattle area that was bought by Rite Aid in 2020.
Sixty-four pharmacies in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, though, will instead be sold to CVS Pharmacy, according to a CVS Pharmacy spokesperson.
It was not clear which locations would remain open under the CVS banner, or how many in each Northwest state. Rite Aid presently operates more than 150 stores across the three states, according to its website, including 56 in Oregon.
Rite Aid previously identified in court filings 115 stores it intended to close nationwide — 20 of which are in Oregon and Washington. It’s unclear whether those previously proposed store closures would go ahead under the liquidation announced Thursday.
CVS is a relative newcomer in Oregon’s retail scene. The chain first arrived in 2016 — when it began operating pharmacies inside Target locations — and opened its first standalone storefronts in Portland in 2019.
The company did not provide a timeline for when the “rolling transition” will take place. It did say that Rite Aid stores will remain open during the transition, and customers could continue to access pharmacy services in the interim.
“These agreements ensure our pharmacy customers will experience a smooth transition while preserving jobs for some of our valued team members,” Rite Aid CEO Matt Schroeder said in the release.
The sales announced Thursday are subject to approval by bankruptcy court in a hearing scheduled for May 21, according to the release.
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