Pharmacy giant Rite Aid plans to close multiple locations in Northeast Pennsylvania as it undergoes a second bankruptcy.
The company disclosed the shutdowns in separate court filings on June 6 and on Friday. The stores slated for closure include four in Lackawanna County, five in Luzerne County and one in Wayne County. The company did not give dates for the store closures.
Store locations listed for closure in the Friday filing are:
• 20 S. River St., Plains Twp.
• 1000 N. Church St., Hazleton
• 1050 Northern Blvd., South Abington Twp.
• 1650 Main St., Olyphant
Those listed for closure in the June 6 filing are:
• 155 E. Northampton St., Wilkes-Barre
• 102 N. Main St., Pittston
• 556 Union St., Luzerne
• 639 Hamlin Highway, Lake Ariel
• 1080 S. Washington Ave., Scranton
• 500 N. Main Ave., Scranton
The company announced last month the stores in Scranton, South Abington Twp. and Olyphant as being up for lease.
Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, under which it will sell all its assets. The company was weighed down by billions of dollars in debt, declining sales and more than 1,000 federal, state and local lawsuits claiming it filled thousands of illegal prescriptions for painkillers, according to a New York Times report.
The company said in a letter to customers last month the majority of stores will remain open for the next few months, allowing patrons to continue accessing pharmacy services and products in stores and online, including prescriptions and immunizations.
“Recently, Rite Aid has experienced a number of financial challenges that have intensified as a result of the rapidly evolving retail and healthcare landscapes in which we operate,” company officials said in the letter.
Rite Aid’s demise has been in the works for several years as the company first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2023 when it operated more than 2,300 locations. At that time, Rite Aid announced plans to close more than 150 stores.
The company sold its pharmacy prescriptions to other pharmacy retailers at more than 1,000 locations across the country.
Rite Aid’s history traces to Scranton, when city native Alex Grass opened the first Thrif-D Discount Center on Lackawanna Avenue in September 1962. The company expanded to five states by 1965 and went public as Rite Aid in 1968.