Rite Aid To Close 2 More South Jersey Stores

SOUTH JERSEY — Two more Rite Aid stores will shutter in the coming weeks as the struggling pharmaceutical-retail giant continues to reel from opioid-lawsuit payouts.

The Rite Aid pharmacy in the Erial section of Gloucester Township will close on May 14, while the store itself will close June 16, a corporate spokesperson told Patch. The store is located at 2090 Erial Clementon Rd., Sicklerville.

A Williamstown location (1881 N Black Horse Pike) will cease operations on a similar timeline, with the pharmacy closing May 21 before the store shutters on June 19.

Last fall, Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid financial losses and legal woes involving its alleged role in the opioid crisis. Before the filing, Rite Aid's plans called for closing up to 500 underperforming stores, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Several New Jersey locations have closed in recent months, as Rite Aid continues to intermittently shut down locations amid the corporation's financial turmoil.

When asked about the local closures, Rite Aid's spokesperson re-iterated a blanket statement:

"Rite Aid regularly assesses its retail footprint to ensure we are operating efficiently while meeting the needs of our customers, communities, associates and overall business. In connection with the court-supervised process, we notified the Court of certain underperforming stores we are closing to further reduce rent expense and strengthen overall financial performance. At this time, we have not made or confirmed any decisions on additional specific store closures as part of our financial restructuring process."

Other drugstore chains, including rivals CVS and Walgreens, have settled similar opioid lawsuits, but were better positioned financially than Rite Aid. Those companies, however, are struggling and closing in a tough environment for national drug store chains as Amazon and big-box retailers like Walmart, Target, Costco and others make it more convenient to have prescriptions filled, CNN reported.

Last fall, Rite Aid closed a different Williamstown location on the Black Horse Pike. Meanwhile, Gloucester Township lost two other pharmacies in recent months: Rite Aid on Blackwood Clementon Road and Walgreens of Glendora.

42 Freeway first reported the upcoming Rite Aid closures in Erial and Williamstown.