Moorestown Rite Aid To Close Amid Company's Bankruptcy

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Rite Aid's bankruptcy will hit home for Moorestown as the pharmaceutical-retail giant plans to shutter its store in the township.

The Moorestown store (121 W Main St.) will close Dec. 14, a Rite Aid spokesperson told Patch.

When Rite Aid prepares to close a store, the company typically works to transfer prescriptions to another Rite Aid or nearby pharmacy in order to prevent service interruptions. The corporation also attempts to transfer employees to different locations.

Rite Aid filed Oct. 15 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.

The retailer runs about 2,000 stores.

More than a dozen locations in New Jersey have closed in recent months or will close soon.

A Rite Aid spokesperson gave Patch the following 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."

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."

Other drugstore chains, including rivals CVS and Walgreens, have settled similar lawsuits, but were better positioned financially. 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.

In recent months, Rite Aid has closed or announced plans to shutter several South Jersey locations, including the following:

• 715 Haddon Ave., Haddonfield
• 1636 Route 38 Suite 49, Lumberton
• 1434 S Black Horse Pike, Williamstown
• 210 Bridgeton Pike, Mantua
• 108 Swedesboro Road Suite 20, Mullica Hill
• 1147 Cooper St., Edgewater Park