More VA Pharmacies To Close As Chain Files Bankruptcy For 2nd Time

VIRGINIA — Rite Aid is closing 151 additional stores nationwide as it traverses its second bankruptcy, and eight locations in Virginia will be among those shuttered.

The latest round of closings was revealed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court filings on Friday. This filing will bring the total number of closures to 268 across the country.

Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy on May 4 for the second time in less than two years, after the previous restructuring lessened the pharmacy chain's debt but still left it on unsound financial footing.

The company listed liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion in a Chapter 11 petition filed in bankruptcy court.

These are the latest Virginia locations that will close, according to a new list:

• 525 West 21st St., Norfolk
• 2040 Atlantic Ave., Chesapeake
• 40 Towne Centre Way, Hampton
• 515 North Main St., Suffolk
• 6908 Main St., Gloucester
• 13554 Carrollton Blvd., Carrollton
• 240 South Battlefield Blvd., Chesapeake
• 975 Hodges Ferry Road, Portsmouth

Previously announced Virginia closures can be found here.

The pharmacy chain's website showed it had 31 stores in the Commonwealth as of May 28.

Rite Aid has begun the process of transferring customer prescriptions elsewhere as the chain winds down operations. Before the bankruptcy declaration, Rite Aid had eight million pharmacy customers.
Customers have until June 6 to use any Rite Aid gift cards, coupons, or rewards. Returns or exchanges will be processed or accepted until June 4.

Rite-Aid is the nation's third-largest pharmacy chain behind CVS and Walgreens. All three have suffered financial difficulties and shuttered hundreds of stores in recent years.

The company is laying off nearly 600 people at its Philadelphia headquarters by June 4. Another 501 people are losing their jobs at a Rite Aid location in Etters, York County.