3 more Philadelphia area Rite Aid locations among 31 more stores to close amid bankruptcy

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Rite Aid is closing 31 more stores, including three in the Philadelphia area, as the company deals with its bankruptcy filing.

The 31 stores are located in a dozen states, including seven in California, four in Pennsylvania, three locations each in Ohio, Virginia and Washington and two each in Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon and New York. The remaining stores are one each in Connecticut, Maryland and Nevada.

The three local store locations are:

• 2545 Aramingo Ave. in Philadelphia

• 927 Paoli Pike in West Chester, Pa.

• 121 West Main St. in Moorestown, N.J.

The pharmacy chain says they are all underperforming.

Workers will have the option to transfer to other locations.

Rite Aid will have about 2,000 stores remaining when both rounds of closures are complete.

Rite Aid, the third-biggest standalone pharmacy chain in the U.S., is headquartered at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia. It has tried to sell or close down more than 150 stores since filing for bankruptcy last month.

Compounding its problems were legal troubles stemming from accusations of filing unlawful opioid prescriptions for customers.

Rite Aid is in much worse financial shape than its competitors. Over the past six years, Rite Aid has tallied nearly $3 billion in losses and its stock is down more than 90% for the year.

While it has secured $3.5 billion in financing and debt reduction agreements from lenders to keep the company afloat through its bankruptcy, Rite Aid said it would accelerate store closures and sell off some of its businesses, including prescription benefit provider Elixir Solutions. Bankruptcy could also help Rite Aid to resolve its legal disputes at a vastly reduced cost.

ALSO SEE: Here are the 15 Rite Aid stores closing in the Philadelphia region following bankruptcy filing

The majority of drugstores' sales come from filling prescriptions, but profits from that segment have declined in recent years because of lower reimbursement rates for prescription drugs. That has forced Rite Aid and its rivals to reduce their physical footprint in recent years.

CVS, the largest US chain, closed 244 stores between 2018 and 2020. In 2021, it announced plans to close 900 stores by 2024. Walgreens said in 2019 it would close 200 stores and in June announced an additional 150 store closures.

The number of independent pharmacies decreased by nearly 50% from 1980 to 2022, according to consulting firm McKinsey.

CNN contributed to this post.