Rite Aid In Haddonfield To Close Amid Company's Bankruptcy
HADDONFIELD, NJ — Rite Aid will shutter its Haddonfield store, marking a local casualty as the pharmaceutical-retail giant continues to downsize amid bankruptcy.
The Haddonfield store (715 Haddon Ave.) will close Nov. 29, 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.
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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 corporation runs about 2,000 stores.
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Several New Jersey locations shuttered in the months leading up to Rite Aid’s bankruptcy. In the filing, Rite Aid also listed 12 stores in the Garden State that would close. The Haddonfield store wasn’t one of them. But Rite Aid’s financial turmoil left its other stores — and the company as a whole — hanging in the balance.
A Rite Aid spokesperson sent Patch the following 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 it will shutter several South Jersey locations, including the following:
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