SEQUIM — The two remaining Rite Aid pharmacies in Sequim and Port Angeles are slated to close in the near future after their parent company filed for bankruptcy last month.
Rite Aid at 520 W. Washington St. in Sequim will close June 26, according to signage and staff.
Prescriptions will be transferred to QFC, 990 E. Washington St., Building B, in Sequim, by the closing date, unless customers have another pharmacy request their account.
The Port Angeles store does not have a definitive closing date and its prescriptions are not being referred to another pharmacy.
National company representatives said customers can continue to access pharmacy services, including prescription refills and immunizations, through the stores’ closures.
The number of staff impacted was not made available, but company representatives said employees will continue to receive pay and benefits through the closures.
Last summer, Rite Aid at 1940 E. First St. in Port Angeles closed due to downsizing as its Pennsylvania-based parent company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2023.
Periodic store closures have been announced since then to reduce the company’s debt.
Upon closure of the First Street store in 2024, company representatives wrote via email there were no immediate plans to close the Sequim and other Port Angeles stores.
On May 5, Rite Aid announced a plan to sell most of its assets from about 1,200 stores after filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy again in New Jersey.
Company officials announced via a press release on May 15 the sale of most assets from about 1,000 stores to Walgreens, Albertsons, Kroger and more, plus the sale and operation of many Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs stores located in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho to CVS Pharmacy.
Media representatives for Kroger could not be reached for comment about asset acquisitions.
According to national reports, Rite Aid has struggled financially in recent years due to various factors, such as decreased drug-price margins and lawsuits from opioid prescriptions.
Rite Aid’s website and signage state that the company will no longer honor Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs gift cards, and it stopped accepting returns or exchanges last Thursday.
Rite Aid Rewards were no longer issued for qualifying purchases to customers starting on May 6. Accrued points and BonusCash will expire per standard terms and conditions with more information at riteaid.com/rewards/terms-and-conditions.
Sequim’s Rite Aid was formerly at 680C W. Washington St., where Goodwill now operates.
Rite Aid purchased Thrifty PayLess pharmacies on the West Coast in 1996.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
