A third Rite Aid location in Centre County is set to close, leaving one left. What we know
Centre County is now losing a third Rite Aid location under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring, meaning only one such store will soon remain in the region.
In the fourth wave of bankruptcy filings Tuesday, the Bellefonte location at 821 E. Bishop St. was listed among 31 additional closings across the country. They join more than 180 other closures, including two others in Centre County — the State College area stores at 510 Westerly Parkway and 1927 S. Atherton St. (Hills Plaza).
According to company spokesperson Alicja Wojczyk, the Bellefonte location will close Dec. 12. The Westerly Parkway store will close Dec. 5, and the South Atherton location closed Wednesday (Nov. 29).
With those three confirmed closures, that would leave the only Rite Aid in Centre County at 1536 N. Atherton St. in Ferguson Township. Wojczyk could not confirm whether that location would remain open, forwarding a company statement that said no such decisions have yet been made.
“Rite Aid regularly assesses its retail footprint to ensure we are operating efficiently while meeting the needs of our customers, communities, associates and overall business,” the statement read. “In connection with the court-supervised process, we notified the Court of certain underperforming stores we are closing to further reduce rent expense and strengthen overall financial performance. At this time, we have not made or confirmed any decisions on additional specific store closures as part of our financial restructuring process.”
Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy protection last month after losing about $3 billion over the last six years, and it expects a net loss of up to $680 million this fiscal year. The company’s stock has also lost more than 93% of its value since the start of the year.
The national drugstore chain, which was founded in Scranton in 1962, runs about 2,000 stores concentrated on the East and West coasts — which puts it firmly behind Walgreens (8,700-plus stores) and CVS (9,400-plus).
According to Deutsche Bank analyst George Hill, Rite Aid operates on a much thinner profit margin compared to its competitors, who have moved more aggressively into health care, opening clinics and adding other sources of revenue. Among other reasons for the bankruptcy, The Associated Press mentioned online competitors like Amazon, waning COVID-19 vaccine/testing business, staffing issues, financial risk from lawsuits over opioid prescriptions, etc.
Going through Chapter 11 will help “significantly reduce the company’s debt” while helping to “resolve litigation claims in an equitable manner,” Rite Aid said last month.
Which Rite Aid locations will close in Pennsylvania?
Here is an updated list of closing Rite Aid locations in Pennsylvania, as of Nov. 29:
This story was originally published November 29, 2023 at 11:35 AM.
