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Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week and put up all its brick-and-mortar operations in Philadelphia for sale as part of the process.
To restructure the company, it secured $1.94 billion in new financing to tackle more than $2 billion in debt.
It’s possible that Rite Aid will sell itself rather than continue operating as CEO Matt Schroeder said in a statement that the company is in talks with multiple potential buyers.
Rite Aid already shuttered dozens of stores across the region during its last bankruptcy filing in October 2023. It emerged from that restructuring in September 2024.
As a result of this bankruptcy, the retail pharmacy chain is closing the remaining 33 locations across Philadelphia, as well as dozens more across the Delaware Valley and hundreds nationwide.
The stores range between 8,000 and 19,000 square feet and the majority of the locations are leased by the chain. Few are owned outright.
The sale also includes its Navy Yard collaboration center and headquarters, which spans 23,144 square feet, with a lease that was supposed to run until 2032. Rite Aid pays $32 per square foot for the Navy Yard lease, marketing data shows.
Most of the real estate leases are between $10 to $30 per square foot in Philadelphia.
If the company is sold to a buyer, the shuttered pharmacies could reopen as part of the new business.
When asked to comment on the bankruptcy, Rite Aid deferred to its press release.
It was not clear how many employees at both the retail locations and the corporate office will lose their jobs as a result of the restructuring.
