### Rite Aid's Swift Store Closures Continue, Washington Hit Hard

Rite Aid has decided to close an additional 17 stores in Washington, which includes four locations of its Bartell Drugs subsidiary, as the company intensifies its court-approved liquidation process following its bankruptcy. This recent move is part of a broader strategy, with a Friday court filing revealing over 200 new Rite Aid closures across the country.

Last month, the company had already announced the closure of 360 stores nationwide, comprising 19 Rite Aid stores and five Bartell stores in Washington. The closure trend seems to be deepening as the company continues with its bankruptcy proceedings initiated on May 5. So far, the 64 closed stores are only about a third of the nearly 190 Rite Aid locations spread across the three affected states. Washington alone was previously home to 95 Rite Aid stores and approximately 39 Bartell Drugs locations as of last month.

Amid the shutdowns, there’s still a faint possibility that another entity could purchase the remaining Rite Aid and Bartell stores, although bankruptcy experts consider this increasingly unlikely given the stores’ prolonged market presence. "The stores not acquired by CVS were likely underperforming and are now set for closure," stated Daniel Gielchinsky, a Florida bankruptcy attorney who has been closely monitoring the Rite Aid situation since its first Chapter 11 filing in 2023.

As the company progresses with its liquidation, Rite Aid has been transferring "pharmacy assets" including customers' prescription files to competitors. Specifically, CVS is acquiring the prescription files from 625 Rite Aid locations. However, CVS has not disclosed which stores' files it is taking over and has yet to confirm whether this transfer entails any actual store closures.

With these latest closures, the number of Rite Aid stores in Washington could drop to 63 from 95 as of last month. While the exact timeline for these closures remains unclear, the updated numbers reflect a significant reduction. Similarly, the number of Bartell Drugs locations might dwindle to around 30, a stark decrease from the 68 locations shortly after Rite Aid acquired Bartell Drugs in 2020.

The rapid pace of these closures is causing concern over the emergence of pharmacy deserts, leaving many communities potentially without easy access to crucial pharmacy services. This development has also dampened hopes that another pharmacy chain might step in to save the iconic 135-year-old Bartell Drugs brand. This sentiment is particularly poignant among current and former Bartell employees.