New Information Released On Future Of Stamford's Rite Aid Location

STAMFORD, CT —In the immediate aftermath of Rite Aid's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, the pharmacy giant announced that its Bethel location would close. The other Connecticut stores, including the one location in Stamford, appear to have dodged a bullet, for the time being at least.

Rite Aid has signaled no disruptions, closures or otherwise, for their 26 remaining CT pharmacies located in Ansonia, Bridgeport, Brookfield, Cheshire, Danbury, East Haven, Fairfield, Milford, Monroe, Naugatuck, New Haven, North Branford, Northford, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Stamford, Stratford, Wallingford, Waterbury, West Haven and Wolcott.

The Stamford location is at 82 Hoyt St., at the intersection with Bedford Street.

Just about 7 percent of Rite Aid's 2,100-plus are being shuttered nationwide. People who work at the stores will also be transferred to other Rite Aid locations where possible, the company said. Another 210 sites went dark between January and the end of September.

Closures are concentrated in the Northeast and California, but can be found throughout the U.S. No exact closing dates have been made available.

The company said it was making "very effort to ensure customers of impacted stores have access to health services, whether at another Rite Aid or a nearby pharmacy." Prescriptions for 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.

Last week, Rite Aid said it had received a commitment for $3.45 billion in new financing from certain of its lenders. "This financing is expected to provide sufficient liquidity to support the Company throughout this process," according to the chain's statement. The company also plans to sell off Elixir Solutions, its prescription benefit provider subsidiary.

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 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.

Losses that quarter are expected to be significantly higher than in the previous quarter, the company said. That’s on top of losses of about three quarters of a billion dollars for the year ended March 2023, and losses of $307 million from March to May, CNN reported.

— Patch editors Rich Kirby and RJ Scofield contributed to this story