All Rite Aid pharmacies are officially closed in Pa., N.J.
The retail sections of local stores are set to close in the days ahead. Most prescriptions have been transferred to CVS.
Pennsylvania’s last Rite Aid pharmacy closed its doors Friday.
The Grindstone location — about an hour south of Pittsburgh —was the commonwealth’s final pharmacy standing, according to a list on the company’s website.
In the Philadelphia region, all pharmacies closed earlier this month, but the retail sections of some stores will remain open through the weekend, according to employees at the stores.
Company spokespeople have not returned requests for comment about the exact dates of store closures.
» READ MORE: The rise and fall of Rite Aid
Rite Aid’s final days come after years of financial troubles, punctuated in May by the Philly-based retailer’s second bankruptcy in two years. The company announced it would be closing all its stores. At the time, that included 345 in Pennsylvania and 60 in New Jersey.
About 100 of those locations were in the Philadelphia area, which was already riddled with empty shells of former Rite Aid stores. Between 2022 and 2024, the chain had closed at least 73 stores in the region.
The latest round of closures threatens to exacerbate pharmacy access issues, particularly for lower-income customers in rural and urban areas.
» READ MORE: What happens after a Philly neighborhood’s last chain pharmacy shuts its doors
The pharmacy assets of Rite Aid stores nationwide were sold in the bankruptcy process, with the lion’s share being acquired by CVS. Others were bought by Walgreens, smaller regional chains, and independent pharmacies. Prescriptions were transferred automatically, Rite Aid has said. (If you aren’t sure where your prescriptions were transferred, you can search Rite Aid’s list at riteaid.com/newpharmacylocation.)
Between June and early August, CVS acquired the prescriptions of 173 Rite Aid pharmacies in Pennsylvania and 42 in New Jersey, CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault said Friday.
“All prescription files from these Rite Aid stores were seamlessly transferred to nearby CVS Pharmacy locations and we are now servicing these patients’ pharmacy care needs,” Thibault said in a statement. “We’re excited to welcome new patients to CVS Pharmacy and to introduce them to our best-in-class front store and pharmacy offering.”
CVS has also hired about 600 former Rite Aid employees in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Thibault said.
Many area Rite Aid stores have already closed completely, the distinct block lettering already removed from their storefronts. At soon-to-shutter locations, giant yellow signs alert passing drivers of going-out-of-business sales.
On neighborhood Facebook groups in recent months, users posted about deals they said they found at local Rite Aids, with discounts of up to 80%.
In mid-July, a Rite Aid in Barrington had one of those massive “Store Closing” signs stretched across its front window. On Friday, it sat empty, lights still on inside but the front doors closed. The word pharmacy had been removed from the awning, but the Rite Aid signage remained for now.
Across the country, more than two dozen Rite Aid pharmacies, many in Washington state, are set to remain open until early September, according to the company’s list.