2 more Delaware Rite Aids will close this month, as bankruptcy fallout continues
As the fallout from Rite Aid's Chapter 11 bankruptcy continues, two more Delaware locations will close for good this month.
Both stores are in the Newark area. The location at 1602 Capitol Trail will close on Jan. 23, say company officials. The store at 263 S. Main St. in the Park & Shop shopping center, will close Jan. 18.
These won't be the first Delaware stores to shutter.
The pharmacy giant filed for bankruptcy in October, announcing it would close stores across the United States, as it battles falling sales and mounting debt. The chain is also facing state and local lawsuits, as well as a Department of Justice complaint, claiming the company filled thousands of illegal prescriptions for painkillers.
Rite Aid reported in October that it expects to lose as much as $680 million in the year ending this spring.
What's happening?: Rite Aid has filed for bankruptcy. What it means for the pharmacy chain and its customers
Pharmacy closing announcements have come in waves, after an initial October filing announcing that Rite Aid would close 154 underperforming stores as part of the court-supervised Chapter 11 process.
Two of these locations were in Delaware, one at Chestnut Hill Plaza off Route 4, near Newark, and one at 3209 Kirkwood Highway location in Prices Corner. Both are now closed.
The newest closures will leave just four locations in the Newark area, according to Rite Aid's website: one on New London Road, one at 4607 Stanton Ogletown Road, one in Glasgow's Peoples Plaza and one in Pike Creek at Polly Drummond Hill Road.
In a statement, Rite Aid spokespeople wrote that the stores are closing to "further reduce rent expense and strengthen overall financial performance." The chain is not confirming additional closures at this time.
At the time of the bankruptcy filing, Rite Aid said it had more than 2,000 stores. The website now shows a little more than 1,800 in operation. In Delaware, 31 Rite Aids will remain as of February. For a full list of locations, consult Rite Aid's website.
Brandon Holveck is a high school sports reporter and a former business and development reporter. Contact him at bholveck@delawareonline.com. Follow him on X and Instagram @holveck_brandon. Follow him on TikTok @bholveck.
Matthew Korfhage is business and development reporter in the Delaware region covering all things related to land and money: openings and closings, construction, and the many corporations who call the First State home. Send tips and insults to mkorfhage@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 2 more Delaware Rite Aids will close this month, amid bankruptcy
