By TOM MURPHY, AP Health Writer
CVS has finished buying customer prescription files from hundreds of closed Rite Aid drugstores and is now running 63 of the defunct chain’s locations.
The company said Wednesday that it is operating former Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. It also has transferred customer prescription files from 626 pharmacies in 15 states to nearby CVS locations.
CVS Health did not say how much it spent on the stores and prescription files.
Rite Aid recently announced on its website that its stores have closed. The company said in May that it was seeking bankruptcy protection and would look to sell substantially all of its assets.
Philadelphia-based Rite Aid once ran more than 4,000 stores mostly on the East Coast. It initially filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2023 after struggling with debt and posting annual losses for several years.
The chain emerged from that Chapter 11 reorganization in 2024 as a private company. It said then that it had less debt, was more efficient and now operated a “rightsized store footprint.”
But the recovery didn’t stick with Rite Aid down to around 1,200 stores. The chain was attempting to turn around its business in a tough environment.
Major chains and independent pharmacies have been closing stores and struggling with challenges like increased theft and customers who are drifting more to online shopping and discount retailers.
Walgreens, which has more than six times as many stores as Rite Aid, agreed in March to be acquired by the private equity firm Sycamore Partners.
Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS Health Corp. runs several thousand drugstores. It also operates a large pharmacy benefits management business, and its Aetna health insurance segment covers nearly 27 million people.
Related Posts:
- Pope urges Italy to remain open to migrants during rite of passage visit to presidential palace News By NICOLE WINFIELD ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV thanked Italy on Tuesday for its efforts to combat human trafficking but urged the country to remain open to welcoming and integrating migrants as he took part in a pomp-filled meeting with the Italian president. Related Articles Trump says US strikes…
- Prescription drug coverage options are shrinking for Medicare shoppers News By TOM MURPHY, Associated Press Fewer choices may be on the menu again as Medicare patients shop for prescription coverage this fall. The number of available, stand-alone drug plans has fallen for a few years, and that trend will continue for 2026. Most markets will still have several choices, but…
- Full list of major UK supermarket’s 20 new Express stores opening before end of 2025 News Asda is targeting town centres and stations with the new Express stores (Picture: SOPA Images) Asda is expected to open dozens of new stores this month across the UK. The supermarket chain is going against the recent trend of shop closures by launching 20 new sites in the coming weeks.…
- OpenAI partners with Walmart to let users buy products in ChatGPT, furthering chatbot shopping push News NEW YORK (AP) — OpenAI is partnering with Walmart to let shoppers make purchases directly within ChatGPT, furthering the artificial intelligence company’s push to turn its chatbot into a virtual merchant as it seeks to boost revenue. In an Tuesday announcement, Walmart said the new offering will give customers the…
- US rejects bid to buy 167 million tons of coal on public lands for less than a penny per ton News By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Federal officials rejected a company’s bid to acquire 167 million tons of coal on public lands in Montana for less than a penny per ton, in what would have been the biggest U.S. government coal sale in more than a decade.…
(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)