Rite Aid to close 11 Puget Sound stores, including 5 Bartell Drugs locations

With Rite Aid filing for bankruptcy earlier this week, the company has decided to shut down 154 stores nationwide, including 11 locations in Puget Sound.

Six of the locations closing are Rite Aid stores, while five will be Bartell Drugs stores. The full list of closures is as follows:

• 9600 15th Ave. SW, Seattle (Bartell Drugs)
• 2518 196th St. SW, Lynnwood (Bartell Drugs)
• 3620 Factoria Blvd. SE, Bellevue (Bartell Drugs)
• 11919 8th St., Bellevue (Bartell Drugs)
• 7370 170th Ave. NE, Redmond (Bartell Drugs)
• 601 South Grady Way, Ste. P, Renton (Rite Aid)
• 3202 132nd St., S.E., Mill Creek (Rite Aid)
• 110 SW 148th St., Burien (Rite Aid)
• 10103 Evergreen Way, Everett (Rite Aid)
• 8230 Martin Way, East Lacey (Rite Aid)
• 22201 Meridian Ave., Graham (Rite Aid)

In addition to Washington, the stores closing nationwide include 17 in California, New York and Pennsylvania, 16 in Michigan, eight in New Jersey, four in Maryland and Ohio, two in Oregon and New Hampshire, and one in Alabama and Idaho, according to multiple outlets, including USA TODAY and CNN.

Rite Aid said in its Tuesday bankruptcy court filing that it also may close additional stores.

More on Rite Aid

The Philadelphia-based drug chain operates more than 2,000 retail stores across 17 states in the U.S.

Rite Aid acquired Bartell Drugs in 2020 for $95 million. As part of the sale, Bartell continued operating under the same name. Bartell Drugs CEO Kathi Lentzsch acknowledged the COVID-19 pandemic led to the company’s decision to sell.

According to CNN, over the past six years, Rite Aid has tallied nearly $3 billion in losses. In 2022, Rite Aid settled for approximately $30 million to resolve lawsuits alleging pharmacies contributed to an oversupply of prescription opioids.

Rite Aid said in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it has more than 2,200 locations in 17 states.

That filing also noted that the company lost about $1.3 billion in the first half of its fiscal year. That’s more than double the $441 million it lost in the same period during the previous fiscal year.

Rite Aid said in its Tuesday bankruptcy court filing that it also may close additional stores.

The company said earlier this week that going through its voluntary Chapter 11 process will help significantly cut the company’s debt and resolve litigation “in an equitable manner.”

The Philadelphia company has struggled financially for years and also faces financial risk from lawsuits over opioid prescriptions like its bigger rivals, CVS and Walgreens.

Bartell Drugs developments

The Bartell Drugs on 15th and Market in Ballard permanently closed earlier this year, according to KIRO 7, while an uptown location shut its doors on Sept. 10. Bartell Drugs also previously shut down locations in Lynnwood, Des Moines and White Center.

Bartell announced in 2019 it would not be opening any more stores in Seattle due to theft and assaults on employees. Data on Seattle.gov indicates the violent crime rate in the city reached a 15-year high in 2022.

Contributing: The Associated Press

©2023 Cox Media Group