Major Pharmacy Closing All Connecticut Locations Amid Bankruptcy

CONNECTICUT — The fate of the once-prominent Rite Aid pharmacy chain is being summed up in two sentences on the company website:

They said:

"All Rite Aid stores have now closed. We thank our loyal customers for their many years of support."

Rite Aid had been in business for 63 years.

Customers who have immunization and prescription records with the chain can still request them online, the company said on the website.

Rite Aid also has a list of pharmacies where customers' prescriptions were transferred if the customers had not made the transfers themselves.

Both links are front and center on the home page.

Rite aid began shutting stores on the heels of an early May bankruptcy filing — the second time for the chain 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.

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.

Rite Aid also announced a "rolling transition" of its pharmacy assets from more than a thousand stores across the country, including its Connecticut locations. The assets were transferred to CVS stores in Connecticut, and Walgreens, Albertsons, Kroger and Giant Eagle, among others, nationwide.

During the sell-off, CVS said it had acquired the prescription files of 625 Rite Aid pharmacies in 15 states and purchasing 64 Rite Aid stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

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When the bankruptcy filing was announced, Connecticut's roster of stores included:

• Cheshire
• Danbury
• Naugatuck
• Fairfield
• Wolcott
• Norwalk
• Stratford
• Milford
• Ridgefield
• Brookfield