The Rite Aid in your neighborhood might be closing. The U.S. pharmacy chain filed for bankruptcy protection for a second time and is closing or selling stores to a new owner.
Customers were surprised to see the Rite Aid on Main Street in Cheshire closed on Saturday.
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WATCH HERE“I pulled up here and I’m like 'what happened?” asked Scott LaFlamme. “For a multi-billion dollar corporation to not let their consumers know what's going on, that's a very bad business.”
Pharmacy company Rite-Aid filed another bankruptcy protection after it was unable to secure additional capital from lenders. The company first filed for bankruptcy in 2023 to cut $2 billion dollar in debt. That’s when customers say they noticed the empty shelves.
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SIGN UP “As a result of filing bankruptcy, they accumulated high debt,” said Patrice Luoma, Quinnipiac University Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy. “And when you have high debt, it makes it really hard to do anything. So you can't they couldn't really get inventory because their vendors said, ‘hey, you need to pay us on these really strict terms, otherwise we can't supply you.’”
There were 13 Rite Aid stores left in Connecticut after the company closed dozens of stores last year. It’s unclear when the remaining stores will close, but prescriptions will be moved to another pharmacy.
In Cheshire, medication was transferred to the CVS on Highland Avenue.
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“I just know they're going to be overloaded because there are so many people that used Rite Aid, you know, where are you going to go?” asked Claire Newell.
The CVS is just down the road, but Newell said she’ll miss the pharmacists she’s come to know.
“If you take medication regularly, they're so responsible about getting it for you and being right there in any questions,” she said. “It’s very, very sad.”
A sign was posted outside the CVS asking customers to be patient as they work with new customers during this transition.
A Rite Aid spokesperson told NBC Connecticut the company's only viable path forward was to commence Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings again. The company will use the process to sell its prescriptions, pharmacy, front-end inventory, and other assets. Rite Aid is in active discussion with several potential buyers.
All Rite Aid locations will either close or be operated by a new owner.
The spokesperson said customers can continue to access pharmacy services and products, including prescriptions and immunizations, both in stores and online.
