Rite Aid notified employees that they must file for bankruptcy less than a year after completing an earlier restructuring.
The company was unable to secure additional capital from lenders in order to continue operating the business and now intends to file Chapter 11, Chief Executive Officer Matthew Schroeder said in a letter to employees that was reviewed by Bloomberg News. The drug store chain is also planning to cut jobs at its corporate offices in Pennsylvania.
Schroeder blamed the job cuts on “the dramatic downturn in the economy,” tariffs, and increased costs from suppliers and landlords. Rite Aid lenders would no longer cover payroll or other employment-related expenses “if we retain the entirety of our workforce,” he said in the letter.
This is their second bankruptcy in three years. After the first, they cut $2 billion in debt and closed about 850 stores. The lenders took control.
My Rite-Aid has had mostly empty shelves since the first bankruptcy. It seriously harmed their business. There are several pharmacies near Rite Aid where I live so the competition is stiff.
Some major cities are the armpits of thievery, and that is another problem.
If the other stores were like mine, with mostly empty shelves and services cut, they would have lost customers. It is unfortunate. The store is too weak to handle tariffs and increased costs.
BREAKING: All 134 Rite-Aid owned Washington pharmacies, including Bartell Drugs, are under threat of closure.
They confirmed they'll either sell or shut down. The corporation filed for bankruptcy Monday for the second time in less than two years. https://t.co/LycybmYqXI pic.twitter.com/VlhsV8Cx8M
— Maddie White (@maddiewhitetv) May 6, 2025
On today’s episode of politicians dodging the big issues:
178 Rite Aid stores are closing across New York State – including 13 in the City of Buffalo. Thousands will lose their jobs. Thousands more are left scrambling to figure out how they’ll fill their prescriptions. And let’s… pic.twitter.com/FIdEvbjWtN
— Chrissy Casilio (@ChrissyCasilio) May 6, 2025
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I recall being in a RiteAid during the 2008 financial crisis. The troubled clerk told me they all got pink slips that morning. Last year I was in another RiteAid where the shelves were almost empty. When I asked the clerk where all the stock was she said they couldn’t get delivery trucks out to their location. Yeah RiteAid is in big trouble. First it was COVID, then Bidenflation, now tariffs. I hope this isn’t an indicator of worse things to come like in 2008.
Turns out when blue states decriminalize stealing and democrats open borders to millions of criminal illegal aliens, some retail businesses file for bankruptcy. Shocking.
My Rite Aid had two employees working at one time. A person who ran the store and a pharmacist. That’s it. The person who worked the store did everything, cashier,stocked shelves…. Eventually, I walked down to the next store, a supermarket and signed up there for meds. Easy.