Latest Connecticut Closures Likely Indicative Of Pharmacy Chain's Total Demise

CONNECTICUT — Add another Connecticut location to the rapidly growing list of Rite Aid roster cuts. And the list will likely include all stores sooner than later, according to a staffer at a doomed store.

This time, it is the store in Monroe at 435 Main St. That store joins two in Connecticut designated for closure last week.

The latest to officially be put on the chopping block in Connecticut is the Monroe store on Main Street. A staffer answering the phone said the location could go dark in about a month, but could stay open longer. On paper, the neighboring store at 508 Monroe Turnpike would be an easy option for prescriptions, but the staffer said that, too, would be closing at a yet-unannounced date. The staffer said prescription services have been sold to a competitor.

An Associated Press story filed last week backs up that contention. The company plans to sell customer prescription files, inventory and other assets as it closes distribution centers and unloads store locations. Stores will remain open for now, but the company isn’t buying new inventory so bare shelves are likely to become more common.

In Connecticut, the Rite Aid at 1387 New Haven Avenue in Milford is doomed. The pharmacy is slated to go dark on July 30, according to staffers. The front of the store will close roughly two weeks later, they said. The pharmacy at the 190 East Ave. Rite Aid in Norwalk is slated for closure on June 29, with the rest of the store being shuttered sometime in July, according to staffers.

The latest roster trimming comes on the heels of an early May bankruptcy filing — the second time in less than two years. Rite Aid listed liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion in the Chapter 11 petition filed in New Jersey bankruptcy court.

Connecticut locations closed last month include Cheshire at 180 Main St., Danbury at 113-115 Mill Plain Road and Naugatuck at 56 Rubber Ave.

Rite Aid filed its second bankruptcy after the previous restructuring reduced the pharmacy chain's debt but still left it on shaky financial footing. The Philadelphia-based drug store chain also announced it is seeking a buyer, and said that re-filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will speed up the process.

Read More: 2 More Connecticut Closures Scheduled For Once-Mighty Pharmacy Chain