As of June 20, the total number of Rite Aid closures nationwide is roughly 700 and growing<\/a>.\u00a0 Earlier closures in May<\/a>, more than 595 Rite Aid corporate office workers at the Philadelphia Navy Yard headquarters were laid off. Three Philadelphia-area locations have since closed, with more closures to follow. The total number of Rite Aid closures in Philadelphia currently stands at over 70.<\/p>\n Rite Aid\u2019s removal has set off waves of consequences.<\/p>\n Chain pharmacy competitors CVS and Walgreens have 84 Philly locations between the two of them, but many Rite Aid customers have yet to plan for a transition of their medical needs.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know where to go,\u201d 27-year-old Isaiah Saunders said. \u201cI know we have until the end of the summer, but I\u2019m trying to work that out.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to CVS and Walgreens\u2019 offerings, Philadelphia boasts a diverse range of non-chain pharmacies, with an estimated 200 independent pharmacies operating across the city<\/a>. Still, some loyal Rite Aid customers like Pegg worry that what she had with her local Rite Aid won\u2019t be easy to recapture.<\/p>\n \u201cCVS, they\u2019re very corporate,\u201d Pegg said. \u201cEvery time I go there, it\u2019s very impersonal, always a huge line and just not as close [to me].\u201d<\/p>\n Now, with emptied shelves and hushed conversations of what\u2019s next among employees, Pegg worries about the future of a location that had become a local artery of convenience and community.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m kind of scared about what it will become,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what they\u2019re gonna do with this building, but I hope it\u2019s something that can help people.\u201d<\/p>\n Rite Aid locations in Philadelphia<\/a><\/p>\n Walgreens and CVS reportedly have acquired many Rite Aid locations across Philadelphia, though many remain in limbo. The trend is playing out nationally, too.\u00a0 CVS recently announced that it had acquired 64 Rite Aid stores<\/a> in Idaho, Oregon and Washington states.<\/p>\n Rite Aid employees are also impacted by the closures. In most cases, cashiers, pharmacists and managers will have to find employment elsewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n Following the May closures, which resulted in over half of the Pennsylvania Rite Aid workforce being laid off, the number of total laid-off Pennsylvania employees is expected to rise to 1,100 by the end of the summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n After building relationships with workers at his local Rite Aid, where he\u2019s been a regular customer for over three years, Saunders now worries about their futures as well as his own.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people are really nice,\u201d he said. \u201cI asked a couple of them, like, \u2018What\u2019re you guys going to do? Are you going to transfer?\u2019 And they seem to be unsure about what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Waves of consequence<\/p>\n Beyond customers and full-time permanent employees, there\u2019s another set of impacted people: pharmacy students. Many of them worked at Rite Aid as part of their 1,500-hour experiential training requirement.<\/p>\n Scott Greene<\/a>, a clinical assistant professor and assistant dean of experiential programs at Saint Joseph\u2019s University, said Rite Aid was a \u201csignificant employer\u201d of pharmacy students, who must now seek alternatives.<\/p>\n Now, with those Rite Aids disappearing and Philadelphia entering a transitional period as the pharmacies are replaced and residents make the switch, Greene believes emergency rooms could see an influx of excess patients.<\/p>\n \u201cThe emergency rooms are going to see a pickup,\u201d Greene said. \u201cWhen you think about the typical thing in a community pharmacy, you\u2019re filling prescriptions and you\u2019re taking care of patients, but you\u2019re also answering a lot of questions. Somebody\u2019s going to need to answer their questions.\u201d<\/p>\n Greene worries disadvantaged groups may forgo their health needs altogether.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you think about people who don\u2019t drive, or they\u2019re disabled or financially they can\u2019t get somewhere, I think some people are going to abandon some of their needs because they\u2019re just not going to be able to [get help],\u201d Greene said.<\/p>\n Greene compares the shift in pharmacy availability to the early 2020s, when many pharmacies stopped offering 24\/7 service.<\/p>\n Back then, people simply adjusted their routines to visit during daytime hours, but in response to this more drastic change, Greene suggests a more proactive approach.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing I would do is find the closest pharmacy to you. I would figure out how I would get there, and then I would go in, and I would talk to the pharmacist and make sure that your medication prescription history has been transferred,\u201d Greene said. \u201cThe other thing that they should be doing is talking to their provider, say, \u2018Hey, my pharmacy is closing. I\u2019m going to switch to this pharmacy.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n Left in the wake of these closures are the aforementioned chain competitors, CVS and Walgreens. CVS has 47 locations in Philadelphia, Walgreens has 37. CVS claims to have bids approved<\/a> on the prescription files of 625 Rite Aid pharmacies.<\/p>\n Already with the most locations in the U.S. and with major plans for expansion, CVS feels confident that it will be able to accommodate an expanded patient base and workforce as Rite Aid dissolves.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-06-22-at-7.08.33\u202fPM.png\")
The shelves of this Rite Aid mirror those of many stores around the country that have been marked for closure, being left partially stocked or empty altogether. (Davis Cuffe\/Billy Penn)<\/p>\n
<\/strong>A former Rite Aid district manager and current professor in Saint Joseph\u2019s College of Pharmacy<\/a>, Greene believes the closures are a \u201creal bad situation\u201d for Philadelphia in particular, where he says Rite Aids were ubiquitous.<\/p>\n