Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy again, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse

I've been so busy with the News & Doc Emmy Awards, holidays, and Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump's authoritarian antics this month, I've been neglecting the Retail Apocalypse other than posting Company Man asks 'The Decline of Weight Watchers...What Happened?' A tale of the Retail Apocalypse (and Ozempic). In that time, three or four stories have piled up, and I feel like returning to the topic. Today, I'm revisiting Rite Aid declares bankruptcy, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse and opioid crisis and Company Man asks 'The Decline of Rite Aid...What Happened?' A tale of the Retail Apocalypse for Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day beginning with 6abc Philadelphia reporting Rite Aid returns to bankruptcy protection as it seeks to sell most assets.

Rite Aid is again seeking bankruptcy protection as the struggling drugstore chain says it will try to sell substantially all of its assets.

The company said Monday that its stores will remain open as it returns to Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

The company said it will work to ensure that customer prescriptions are transferred to other pharmacies as it goes through the sale process. The drugstore chain has lined up from some of its lenders $1.94 billion in new financing which help fund it through the sale and bankruptcy proceedings.

6abc Philadelphia reported this news on May 6, 2025, but it was no surprise. On April 25, 2025, WHTM - abc27 News in Harrisburg, York, Lancaster and Lebanon, Pennsylvania asked What is the future of Rite Aid?

Even then, Garrick Brown, the namesake editor of The Brown Book, could see what Rite Aid's future would be, liquidation. The chain would not survive a second bankruptcy and it looks like all its stores will be closed or sold. Brown also went into more detail about where drug stores get their revenue, including beauty products, which Company Man Mike didn't focus on in 2023. I can say first-hand that Ulta and Sephora have been expanding aggressively, as I mentioned an Ulta replacing a Pier 1 location in 2020, while my wife shops at Ulta and my stepdaughter/older daughter shops at Sephora. I shouldn't be surprised that those chains are eating into drug store revenues on one side of the store while dollar stores are eroding them on the other.

Brown also discussed who would benefit from Rite Aid closing and selling stores as well as the difficulties in unloading some properties. Those are the subjects of the next two videos, which are over the jump.

I'm starting with the bad news first, which is a fallout from Rite Aid's first bankruptcy, WTVG 13abc Action News | Toledo, OH reporting Community members say former Rite Aid locations are becoming an “eyesore”.

It’s been one year since Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy and closed dozens of stores in southwest Michigan and Ohio.

No one seems to want those properties.

I'm closing with what passes for good news, Erie News Now reporting Local Pharmacies Benefit from Rite Aid Bankruptcy.

Rite Aid pharmacies around the country are closing after the company filed for bankruptcy last month.

This makes a prediction from 'Why Walgreens And CVS Are Shutting Down Thousands Of Stores', tales of the Retail Apocalypse look good.

Speaking of learning something new, while I blogged about food deserts when I began this blog, this is the first I've heard about pharmacy deserts. Same story, different market segment. One of the solutions is the return of mom-and-pop pharmacies. Since I support Small Business Saturday, I approve.

This isn't exactly how I wanted shopping local to happen, but I'll take it.

Stay tuned for more Retail Apocalypse stories.