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This well-known American drugstore retailer Rite Aid has announced the closing of its final stores.

Over the weekend, the company's website was updated with a notice indicating: "All Rite Aid locations have now shut down. We thank our dedicated customers for their many years of support." The website also included a option for patrons to request their pharmacy files.

Established in 1962, the firm was once a major drugstore retailers in the United States. In its heyday, Rite Aid operated approximately 5,000 outlets.

However in recent years, the chain encountered financial struggles and a Justice Department investigation. By Friday less than 100 stores remained.

Rite Aid had filed for Chapter 11 in October 2023 and then in mid-2025.

The company also faced legal issues over its role in the opioid crisis. In 2022, Rite Aid paid up to $30 million to resolve legal claims claiming it contributed to the spread of painkillers in the US.

A year later, in its 2023 bankruptcy submission, the company stated that reorganization would help it "resolve litigation claims."

Rite Aid also faced a federal complaint in which authorities claimed the firm's stores filled illegal prescriptions for oxycodone and fentanyl. The company agreed to resolution in mid-2024.

Additional American pharmacy chains have likewise been closing stores across the country, though various factors have been mentioned.

Over the past few years, CVS has shut down more than 1,000 locations as part of a longer term initiative.

Separately, Walgreens, which was not long ago acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners, shut down 500 stores over the past year.

Experts have raised worries about expanding "drugstore dead zones" in the US, where millions of people live without a pharmacy nearby and must commute to have medications filled.