A Fresno Rite Aid store is closing. This one wasn’t on the bankruptcy list
Rite Aid is closing its store at Cedar and Shields avenues in Fresno.
Its last day is scheduled for March 17, according to the company.
Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy in October, and since has announced two rounds of closures totaling around 200 stores nationwide, including at least 31 in California.
But the Fresno store closing came as a bit of surprise. It never showed up on those lists of announced closures in bankruptcy documents.
A representative from Rite Aid told The Bee that the company regularly assesses how many stores it has. As part of the bankruptcy process, it is closing even more stores to cut back on rent costs, Rite Aid said in an email to The Bee.
No other stores in Fresno or Clovis are closing at this time.
When Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy, it cited several challenges, including decreasing sales, competing retailers, and debt from lawsuits stemming from the opioid crisis. The company told the bankruptcy court it was closing stores that were “underperforming.”
The Cedar and Shields store is on a busy intersection, just a few doors down from the new Betty Rodriguez Regional Library and across the street from a Walmart Neighborhood Market.
But the area also has several boarded-up businesses that have closed in recent years, including the Baskin-Robbins next to the library and the Fallas-Paredes clothing store, which closed in 2022 and is now a beauty supply store.
Rite Aid pharmacy customers were sent letters notifying of them of the closure. Prescriptions can be refilled at any Rite Aid location. The letter suggested the location at Cedar and Gettysburg avenues, 1.7 miles away, may be the closest store.
