🔗 Share this article

This well-known US drugstore retailer Rite Aid has announced the shutdown of its last locations.

On Saturday, the company's online portal was updated with a message indicating: "All Rite Aid locations have currently closed. We thank our dedicated patrons for their long-standing of patronage." The website also included a option for patrons to obtain their prescription files.

Established in 1962, the firm was once a leading drugstore chains in the country. During its prime, Rite Aid had up to 5,000 locations.

However in recent years, the chain encountered financial struggles and a Justice Department probe. By Friday fewer than 100 locations remained.

Rite Aid had filed for Chapter 11 in late 2023 and again in mid-2025.

The firm also encountered legal issues over its role in the opioid epidemic. In 2022, Rite Aid paid as much as $30 million to settle lawsuits claiming it contributed to the flow of opioids in the US.

In the subsequent year, in its 2023 filing, the firm stated that reorganization would help it "settle legal claims."

Rite Aid also encountered a federal lawsuit in which authorities alleged the firm's stores processed unlawful prescriptions for powerful painkillers. The firm reached a resolution in July 2024.

Additional American pharmacy chains have also been shutting down retail locations across the United States, though different factors have been mentioned.

Since 2021, CVS has shut down over 1,000 stores as part of a broader move.

Separately, Walgreens, which was recently acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners, closed 500 locations over the past year.

Analysts have raised worries about growing "drugstore dead zones" in the US, where a large number of people live without a drugstore close by and must travel to get medications filled.