At least three Bartell Drug stores in the Seattle metropolitan area have closed, adding to the wave of closures that began just over a year ago, according to The Seattle Times. Affected locations include Des Moines, White Center and Uptown neighborhood. This brings the total number of known closed stores out of 67 acquired by Rite Aid in 2020 up to eight. Other locations that have shuttered are downtown Seattle, Chinatown International District, South Lake Union Ballard and University Districts.
Rite Aid purchased Bartell for $95 million last year but has since been struggling with market conditions as well as supply and competition from rivals CVS and Walgreens Pharmacy chains. Recently The Wall Street Journal reported that Rite Aid was planning on filing for bankruptcy due to its debts and lawsuits it is facing currently .
