Share and Follow
MORE Rite Aid stores are closing as the historic company grapples with bankruptcy and paying back billions to debtors.
The company behind the popular drugstores Rite Aid and Bartell has announced that it will be closing three more Bartell locations in Washington state, according to the Seattle Times.
The three locations that will be closed by the end of November include Bartell stores in Kirkland, Seattle’s Roosevelt Square, and Kent.
The slew of closings come after Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month.
The stores that are closing were low-performing, and the closures are intended to help the company make up for some of its financial losses, a company representative said.
“We notified the court of certain underperforming stores we are closing to further reduce rent expense and strengthen overall financial performance,” a Rite Aid spokesman told the Seattle Times.
Rite Aid purchased the Seattle-based drug store chain Bartell in 2020.
Since then, the company has had to shut down 16 different Bartell locations in the area, leaving just over 50 stores still in operation.
Read Related Also: Manslaughter charge laid after boat crash in Mandurah, Perth that killed AFL’s Rhett Bazzo’s mum
Employees at the closed locations are not guaranteed positions at other stores, but a Rite Aid spokesman said that the company is doing its best to relocate staff when possible.
Rite Aid told the Seattle Times that it will “strive to transfer them to other Rite Aid locations where possible.”
The company first announced that it would be shuttering at least 154 locations when initially filing for bankruptcy on October 17.
Many shoppers have said they are dismayed with the news.
“Even though I knew this was probably coming, it hurts,” one Bartell fan said about the closure on the Roosevelt Facebook page.
“They had a lot of good people working there and the pre-pandemic pharmacy team were amazing.”
Rite Aid representatives told customers that their prescriptions would be transferred to nearby pharmacies.
The company is also reportedly looking into selling 99 of its Rite Aid and Bartell locations, according to CoStar real estate experts.
When asked for details about the 99 stores that may be on sale, a spokesman for Rite Aid said they could not confirm which locations were under review or whether the locations that have already been closed were part of the count.
“At this time, we have not made or confirmed any decisions on additional specific store closures as part of our financial restructuring process,” the Rite Aid spokesperson told the Seattle Times.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Bartell for comments.