Rite Aid is expected to close at least 29 stores in New York state after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to reports.
A court filing obtained by Business Insider shows the drugstore chain identified 154 underperforming stores in the U.S. that it will close as part of its bankruptcy plan. More locations could get the ax as well, as The Wall Street Journal said last month Rite Aid could close as many as 500 pharmacies nationwide.
Most of the affected locations in the Empire State are in New York City and Long Island. Upstate New York stores expected to close include Rite Aid pharmacies in Cheektowaga (2887 Harlem Road), Kenmore (2453 Elmwood Avenue) and Rochester (1567 Penfield Road).
Meanwhile, A&G Real Estate Partners announced Tuesday that it plans to market for sale 78 Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs pharmacy leases, as well as 21 fee-owned properties, pending approval by the U.S. Bankrupcty Court. Some of those include store closures revealed in Rite Aid’s court filing like the Kenmore location, but A&G also included additional properties to sell such as stores in Fairport (6720 Pittsford-Palmyra Road) and Oneonta (94 Chestnut Street). A&G also listed a Buffalo store at 2474 Bailey Avenue, but did not say if it would be closing.
Closing dates have not been announced for most stores, but A&G says the Kenmore location will shutter Nov. 1, the Fairport store is scheduled to close Nov. 14, and the Oneonta store will close Dec. 10. The Buffalo News reports another store closed last week in downtown Buffalo at 452 Main Street.
A representative for Rite Aid told Business Insider that customers affected by the closures will have their prescriptions transferred to another pharmacy “so there is no disruption of services.”
Rite Aid has more than 2,100 drugstores, including 14 in Central New York. The chain operated as many as 4,600 stores a decade ago, but nearly half of the company’s locations were bought by rival pharmacy business Walgreens in 2017 for $4.38…
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