High Desert Rite Aid stores spared chopping block

Rene Ray De La Cruz, Victorville Daily Press
·2 min read

High Desert Rite Aid stores dodged another bullet after the pharmacy chain announced the closing of 31 more stores across the county as the company moves through bankruptcy.

There are eight Rite Aid locations in the High Desert, which include Phelan and Barstow.

Rite Aid stores that will close in California include sites in South Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Capitola, Oakhurst, Agoura, Livermore and Sacramento.

High Desert Rite Aid stores dodged another closing bullet after the pharmacy chain announced the closing of 31 more stores across the county as the company moves through bankruptcy.
High Desert Rite Aid stores dodged another closing bullet after the pharmacy chain announced the closing of 31 more stores across the county as the company moves through bankruptcy.

“I’ve been a Rite-Aid pharmacy customer for years,” Victorville resident Clara Jones, 82, told the Daily Press. “I keep reading about all these pharmacy closures and it’s troubling.”

The timeline of the closures has not been determined and is subject to change, according to court documents.

Under performing stores

Monday’s bankruptcy court filing revealed that Rite Aid shuttered more than 150 other stores last month when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Company officials said it operates more than 2,300 retail pharmacy locations across 17 states.

In October, Rite Aid announced closures in several states, including 31 locations in California, the Daily Press reported.

The store on South Archibald Avenue in Ontario was the only Rite closed in San Bernardino County.

The stores that closed have been under performing and will be closed “to further reduce rent expense and strengthen overall financial performance,” Rite Aid spokesperson Catherine Carter said.

The company plans to give workers at closing stores the option to transfer to other stores.

Financial woes

Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy in October as the company faced decreasing sales. It also faced more than a thousand federal, state and local lawsuits accusing it of fueling the opioid epidemic by illegally filling painkiller prescriptions, USA Today reported.

Over the past six years, Rite Aid has tallied nearly $3 billion in losses, and its stock is down more than 90% for the year, CBS reported.

Rite Aid secured $3.5 billion in financing and debt reduction agreements from its lenders to keep the company afloat through its bankruptcy.

Company officials said they would speed up store closures and sell off some of its businesses, including prescription benefit provider Elixir Solutions.

Bankruptcy could also help Rite Aid to resolve its legal disputes at a vastly reduced cost.

The majority of drugstore sales come from filling prescriptions, however, profits from that mode have declined in recent years because of lower reimbursement rates for prescription drugs.

The lower rates have forced Rite Aid and other pharmacies to reduce their brick-and-mortar footprint in recent years, CBS reported.

Pharmacy closures

CVS, the largest U.S. chain, closed 244 stores between 2018 and 2020. In 2021, it announced plans to close 900 stores by 2024. Walgreens said in 2019 that it would close 200 stores and in June announced an additional closure of 150 stores.

From 1980 to 2022, the number of independent pharmacies decreased by nearly 50%, according to consulting firm McKinsey

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: High Desert Rite Aid stores spared chopping block