Rite Aid To Declare Bankruptcy: Report; Some Pgh. Stores May Close

PITTSBURGH, PA — Rite Aid is preparing to file for bankruptcy and close hundreds of stores, according to reports. Some of those stores could be in the Pittsburgh area.

Yahoo Finance recently had a source confirm that the drug store chain is planning to file for Chapter 11 and shutter more than 400 of its approximately 2,500 locations, or about 16 percent of its drug stores and pharmacies.

The filing is related to increasing costs in opioid-related lawsuits, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. In April, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Rite Aid for failing to detect "red flags"

The preparations come after the company was sued by the US government in April over its failure to detect what the Department of Justice called "red flags" around its filling of prescriptions for opioids and other painkillers. The Journal reported that a bankruptcy filing would list any opioid claimants as unsecured creditors.

The company recently either closed or announced plans to close several stores in New Jersey.

The Rite Aid website lists 464 Pennsylvania locations, with 38 in and around Pittsburgh. They include:

• Downtown (2).

• Pittsburgh International Airport

• Mt. Lebanon

• O'Hara

• Carrick (2)

• Squirrel Hill

• Morningside

• Plum

• Mt. Washington

• Oakland

• Westwood

• Mt. Oliver

• Forest Hills

• Banksville

• Overbrook

• South Side

• Dormont

• Wilkins

• Brighton Heights

• Lawrenceville (2)

• Castle Shannon

• Ross

• Hazelwood

• West View

• Bellevue

• Monroeville

• Shadyside

• East Liberty

• Whitehall

• Penn Hills

• Coraopolis

• Shadyside (2)