Rite Aid To Close 1 Burlington County Store This Weekend

EDGEWATER PARK, NJ — Rite Aid will close one of its Burlington County locations this weekend, a company spokesperson confirmed to Patch.

Sunday will mark the last day of business for the store on 1147 Cooper St., Edgewater Park — the third Rite Aid closure in New Jersey this month that Patch has confirmed.

Edgewater Park customers can get their prescriptions at Rite Aid's Willingboro location (217 Sunset Rd.).

Rite Aid has not confirmed whether any other Burlington County stores will shutter. But the Edgewater Park store's closure shows potential local impacts as Rite Aid reportedly prepares to file for bankruptcy protection because of the impact of opioid lawsuits.

The corporation hasn't gone public about plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 25 that Rite Aid is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections, which would cover the company's $3.3 billion debt load and pending legal claims that it oversupplied prescription opioids.

That filing was expected to include the closure of more than 400 of its 2,200 stores, Yahoo Finance reported. Rite Aid is faced with more than 1,000 lawsuits that are anticipated to be heard in an Ohio court, along with multiple challenges in other states "over its role in prescribing opioid treatments," an MSN report said.

Rite Aid planned to shut down a Morristown location Tuesday and will close a Toms River store Sept. 25. The company's press office has provided Patch with a blanket statement about each closure:

"Like all retail businesses, we regularly review each of our locations to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers, communities and overall business. A decision to close a store is one we take very seriously and is based on a variety of factors including business strategy, lease and rent considerations, local business conditions and viability, and store performance."

When a store shuts down, Rite Aid works to transfer prescriptions so there's no disruption in service, and to employ workers at different Rite Aid locations when possible.

As of Friday, Rite Aid has not filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice with the state, which is required in the case of mass layoffs.

The company reported a net loss of $307 million in the first quarter of 2023, compared to last year’s first quarter net loss of $110.2 million.

The Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against Rite Aid in May, claiming that the company violated the Controlled Substances Act by repeatedly filling prescriptions "with obvious red flags" and intentionally deleting notes about suspicious prescribers.

Rite Aid has 105 stores in New Jersey.