CVS polishes off deal to buy former Rite Aid stores, prescription files

Key Points

• CVS has completed the acquisition of customer prescription files from hundreds of closed Rite Aid stores, now operating 63 locations from the defunct chain.
• Customer prescription files from 626 pharmacies across 15 states have been transferred to nearby CVS locations.
• Rite Aid recently filed for bankruptcy protection and closed many stores, seeking to sell most of its assets amidst significant debt and recurring annual losses.
• Rite Aid's difficulties reflect broader challenges within the pharmacy sector, including increased theft, competition from online retailers, and reduced consumer foot traffic.

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.