Rite Aid Set To Closing 1 Store In Manchester

MANCHESTER, NJ — One of the Rite Aid locations in Manchester will be closed, the company announced as part of the pharmacy chain's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

There are 12 stores in New Jersey that are being closed, two of them in Ocean County.

The Manchester store that is closing is at 86 B Lacey Road in Whiting, according to the bankruptcy filing.

Prescriptions of customers of the affected stores will be transferred to a nearby Rite Aid or other drug store “so that there is no disruption of service,” the company said in a statement. People who work at the stores will also be transferred to other Rite Aid locations where possible, the company said.

There is a second Rite Aid in Manchester, at 2101 Route 70. That store is remaining open.

The other Ocean County location that is closing is the store at 1726 Route 37 East, at Cornell Avenue near the Salvation Army facility. That store closed in September.

Rite Aid’s bankruptcy comes amid slumping sales and heavy debt from an opioid lawsuit filed by the Justice Department in March that accuses the company of filling prescriptions for large quantities of opioids “that had obvious, and often multiple, red flags indicating misuse.”

Rite Aid said it had secured $3.45 billion in financing and debt reduction agreements that will help it stay afloat through the court-supervised bankruptcy. The company will sell off its Elixir Solutions, its prescription benefit provider.

Additionally, the agreement settles outstanding lawsuits against the company for allegedly filing unlawful opioid prescriptions, one of the exacerbating factors contributing to Rite Aid’s bankruptcy.

In a notice to the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, Rite Aid said it was “unable, without unreasonable effort or expense,” to file its latest quarterly report as it reviewed “strategic alternatives.”

Other drug store chains, including rivals CVS and Walgreens, have settled similar lawsuits, but were better positioned financially. But even they 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.

With reporting by Russ Crespolini, Patch