Rite Aid is back in bankruptcy court, and this time they're closing another 114 stores because apparently the first bankruptcy eight months ago didn't quite do the trick.

The pharmacy chain that once competed with Walgreens and CVS is now basically conducting a nationwide going-out-of-business sale in slow motion. A New Jersey bankruptcy court just approved their latest round of closures, which will gut their presence across twelve states, with Pennsylvania taking the biggest hit — 42 stores gone, nearly half of all the new closures.

They filed for bankruptcy in 2023, closed hundreds of stores, emerged as a "restructured" company in 2024, and then immediately filed for bankruptcy again in May. That's not a restructuring — that's a company that doesn't know how to stop the bleeding.

The Numbers Tell a Brutal Story

When Rite Aid first went belly-up in 2023, they had 2,284 stores. After that first bankruptcy "fixed" things, they were down to about 1,245 locations. Now they're chopping another 114.

The closures are spreading across Pennsylvania, California, New York, Washington, New Jersey, Maryland, Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, Idaho, and Ohio. But Pennsylvania is getting absolutely hammered — 42 stores disappearing in the state where Rite Aid was actually founded back in 1962.

California's losing 27 stores, New York's down 13, and New Jersey's saying goodbye to 11. Meanwhile, Idaho and Ohio are each losing just one store, probably because Rite Aid already closed everything else there.

How to Kill a Pharmacy Chain in Two Easy Steps

Here's what's genuinely sad about this whole situation: Rite Aid's first bankruptcy was supposed to fix everything. They shed debt, closed underperforming stores, and emerged as a lean, mean, privately-owned pharmacy machine. Except the company emerged from that first bankruptcy still carrying $2.5 billion in debt. They never addressed the actual problems: Amazon sells drugs now, Walmart has pharmacies that don't feel like stepping into 1987, and CVS and Walgreens have corners locked down in every city in America.

The Industry's Dirty Secret

George Hill from Deutsche Bank put it diplomatically when he told Fox Business that the pharmacy industry "seemed to be growing footprints and locations kind of faster than the need for pharmacies was growing."

But here's what he didn't say: the entire pharmacy model is broken. These companies spent decades operating on the assumption that being on every corner meant printing money. Then Amazon showed up. Then everyone realized you could get prescriptions delivered. Then people figured out that driving an extra mile to Walmart or Target, where you're going anyway, beats paying Rite Aid's prices.

This isn't just a Rite Aid problem. Walgreens and CVS are closing stores too, they're just better at pretending everything's fine. The whole industry is contracting, but Rite Aid's the one that couldn't figure out how to contract without imploding.

What's Really Happening Here

This second bankruptcy isn't a restructuring. When you file for bankruptcy protection twice in less than two years, you're not protecting anything. You're just delaying the inevitable while lawyers get rich sorting through the wreckage.

The company says it's addressing "long-term business challenges of inflationary pressures and increased competition." That's corporate speak for "we have no idea how to compete in 2025." They're still operating like it's 1995, when your only competition was the Walgreens across the street, not the entire internet.

The Bottom Line

Rite Aid's slow-motion collapse is what happens when a company refuses to adapt until it's too late. For the employees losing their jobs and the communities losing their neighborhood pharmacy, this is rough. For the executives who drove this company into the ground twice in two years? They'll probably get bonuses for "managing a difficult situation." Meanwhile, Pennsylvania residents better get used to driving a little farther for their prescriptions.