Rite Aid Shuts Down All Stores After Second Bankruptcy in Under Two Years
Rite Aid, once one of America’s largest pharmacy chains, has officially shut down all remaining store locations after filing for bankruptcy a second time in less than two years. The company made the announcement with a short message posted on its website: “All Rite Aid stores have now closed. We thank our loyal customers for their many years of support.”
The website now serves as a transition hub, offering former customers access to their pharmacy and immunization records, along with tools to locate the new pharmacies that have taken over prescription transfers.
Rite Aid had been a familiar name in American retail pharmacy for over six decades. The chain once dominated the market, becoming the largest drugstore chain in the country in 1987 with more than 2,000 stores. Despite its early success, the company declined over the years due to missed merger opportunities, mounting legal troubles, and stiff competition.
Rite Aid reportedly turned down acquisition deals from Walgreens in 2017 and Albertsons in 2018, decisions that might have changed its trajectory. Instead, the company struggled with mounting debt, shrinking margins, and hundreds of lawsuits related to its alleged role in the national opioid epidemic.
In 2023, the company first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It immediately launched a store optimization plan that began with the closure of 154 out of its 2,284 stores. Over the next year, the chain shut down hundreds more locations. By the time it filed for bankruptcy again in May 2025, only 1,245 stores remained in operation.
While Rite Aid managed to reduce its debt load through the first bankruptcy, emerging in 2024 as a private company controlled by its lenders, it was still saddled with $2.5 billion in liabilities. The company was also unable to overcome major long-term challenges, including inflation, declining foot traffic, and intensifying competition from pharmacy giants like Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart, as well as online disruptors like Amazon Pharmacy.
The final closures mark the end of an era for a brand that once stood at the top of the U.S. pharmacy sector.