Rite Aid to Close 31 California Stores, 154 Nationally

A Rite Aid in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Oct. 18, 2023. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Rite Aid plans to close 31 California stores as part of a company-wide bankruptcy restructuring plan, according to a federal bankruptcy filing Oct. 16.

All but seven of the state’s locations slated to close are in Southern California. The troubled retailer plans to close 154 of its 2,100 retail pharmacy outlets nationally.

“Rite Aid regularly assesses its retail footprint to ensure we are operating efficiently while meeting the needs of our customers, communities, and associates,” Rite Aid told The Epoch Times in an email Oct. 18. “In connection with the court-supervised process, we intend to close certain underperforming stores to further reduce rent expense and strengthen overall financial performance.”

The drugstore chain, one of the largest pharmacy retailers in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to deal with high debt, revenue declines, increased competition, and lawsuits over opioid prescriptions, according to court filings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

Rite Aid also announced Monday it had hired Jeffrey Stein, a specialist in corporate transformations, as its chief executive officer and chief restructuring officer—and additionally placed him as a member of its board of directors.

“Rite Aid has served customers and communities across our country for more than 60 years, and the important actions we are taking today will enable us to move ahead as a stronger company,” Mr. Stein said in a press release Monday. “We look forward to working closely with our landlords to determine the best path forward for each of our stores.”

The company reported its revenue fell to $5.7 billion in the fiscal quarter that ended June 3—a decrease of $6 billion from the end of last year.

The company reported a net loss of nearly $307 million, even though prescriptions increased nearly 5 percent in the same fiscal quarter. Prescription sales account for nearly three-quarters of store sales, according to the company.

A Rite Aid store is shown in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 16, 2019. Mike Blake/Reuters

California retail closures listed in a Rite Aid court filing Tuesday equate to only about 7 percent of the corporation’s retail outlet footprint in the state. The chain had 448 locations in the state before the closures.

Some stores have already closed or will be shuttered in the coming weeks, Rite Aid told the Orange County Register.

Founded in 1962, the national pharmacy chain employs 51,000 at more than 2,500 stores in 19 states, mostly on the east and west coasts, according to its website.

Here is the list of California store closures:

Los Angeles County

•     4044 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles
•     4046 South Centinela Ave., Los Angeles
•     959 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles
•     7859 Firestone Blvd., Downey
•     4402 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach
•     935 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank
•     139 N. Grand Ave., Covina
•     13905 Amar Rd., La Puente
•     920 E. Valley Blvd., Alhambra
•     15800 Imperial Hwy., La Mirada

North of Los Angeles

•     2738 E. Thompson Blvd., Ventura
•     720 N. Ventura Rd., Oxnard

Orange County

•     24829 Del Prado, Dana Point
•     3029 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa
•     30222 Crown Valley Pkwy., Laguna Niguel
•     19701 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda
•     1406 W. Edinger Ave., Santa Ana
•     8509 Irvine Center Dr., Irvine

Inland Empire

•     25906 Newport Rd., Menifee
•     3000 S. Archibald Ave., Ontario

San Diego County

•     6505 Mission George Rd., San Diego
•     8985 Mira Mesa Blvd., San Diego
•     1670 Main St., Ramona
•     3813 Plaza Dr., Oceanside

Northern California

•     20572 Homestead Rd., Cupertino
•     2620 El Camino Real, Santa Clara
•     901 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz
•     571 Bellevue Rd., Atwater
•     5409 Sunrise Blvd., Citrus Heights
•     499 Alvarado St., Monterey
•     1309 Fulton Ave., Sacramento