Rite Aid to close Hermiston store

Published 9:52 am Thursday, January 11, 2024

Rite Aid Corp. is closing additional stores nationwide, including locations in Oregon and southwest Washington, as the beleaguered pharmacy chain works to shed costs and restructure its business in an ongoing bankruptcy case.

The company announced hundreds of stores closures last year after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It’s added more in subsequent court filings, the latest of which it submitted to a bankruptcy court on Tuesday.

Among the latest are:

  • A Gresham store is slated to close on Jan. 25, and prescriptions will be transferred to the Safeway pharmacy next door.
  • The company’s only store in Hermiston, at 835 South Highway 395, will close on Jan. 16, and patient records will be transferred to the Rite Aid in Pendleton at 1900 S.W. Court Place, which is 30 miles away.
  • A Vancouver, Washington, store will close on Jan. 22, and prescription files will be transferred to a Rite Aid roughly three miles away.

Catherine Carter, a spokesperson for Rite Aid, said the company was closing underperforming stores “to further reduce rent expense and strengthen overall financial performance.” The company said roughly 75% of its workers nationwide have accepted offers to transfer locations if their has closed or is slated to as part of the restructuring.

“At this time, we have not made or confirmed any decisions on additional specific store closures as part of our financial restructuring process,” Carter said Wednesday.

To date, Rite Aid has already closed a dozen stores across Oregon and southwest Washington. The closures come as many Oregonians are already losing access to neighborhood pharmacies.

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