Rite Aid Faces a Second Bankruptcy in Three Years

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.

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