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Last month, the Livermore community felt the loss of one of its neighborhood Rite Aid stores, formerly located in Vasco Plaza. The drugstore chain now plans to close its other location in the city.
After a bankruptcy filing, national lawsuit and the closure of dozens of stores across the U.S., the drugstore chain is shuttering its last standing location in Livermore.
Representatives for the company confirmed that the Peppertree Plaza Shopping Center store location at 968 Murrieta Blvd. is expected to close this year, but said they could not confirm a date nor any other additional closures at this time.
An employee at the Murrieta location told the Weekly that amid other closures, there was a sense among the staff that their location would be facing the same fate eventually.
Among the woes for Rite Aid in recent years, the U.S. Justice Department last March filed a complaint alleging “Rite Aid knowingly filed unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances.”
Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta shared more information about the accusations in a statement at the time of the suit.
“We allege that Rite Aid filled hundreds of thousands of prescriptions that did not meet legal requirements. According to our complaint, Rite Aid’s pharmacists repeatedly filled prescriptions for controlled substances with obvious red flags, and Rite Aid intentionally deleted internal notes about suspicious prescribers,” Gupta said. “These practices opened the floodgates for millions of opioid pills and other controlled substances to flow illegally out of Rite Aid’s stores.”
After filing for bankruptcy in October, the drugstore chain announced it would be closing almost 200 stores — including the Vasco Plaza location, which shut down Dec. 14.
Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; leaders reported over $600 million in losses for the 2023 fiscal year citing a number of reasons.
Underperforming stores, expenses over the national lawsuit, and internal restructuring were a few of the reasons listed.
On their webpage, company representatives said the bankruptcy process is part of a larger goal to restructure and secure Rite Aid’s future.
“Rite Aid is utilizing a voluntary Chapter 11 process to strengthen its financial position and accelerate its business transformation,” representatives said.
The company has stated they still operate 2,000 stores across the nation.
Rite Aid CEO Jeff Stein said in a statement, “with the support of our lenders, we look forward to strengthening our financial foundation, advancing our transformation initiatives and accelerating the execution of our turnaround strategy.”
“In doing so, we will be even better able to deliver the healthcare products and services our customers and their families rely on — now and into the future,” added Stein.
For prescriptions and other necessary services, other drugstores such as Walgreens and CVS are located in the nearby area in Livermore.
