Iconic retailer wiped out in Chapter 11 bankruptcy after 63 years

Pharmacy chain performance through the first half of 2025 has shown mixed results.

CVS reported strong second quarter results for the period ending June 30, 2025, as the company's total revenue increased by 8.4% compared to the same period the year before.

“Our strong performance demonstrates the continued focus we have on operational and financial improvement across our businesses, led by a significant and durable recovery at Aetna, strong retention at CVS Caremark and growth and momentum at CVS Pharmacy,” CVS CEO David Joyner said in a July 31 statement.

Walgreens reported an increase in sales

Walgreens also reported some favorable results with a 7.2% increase in third quarter sales for the period ending May 31, 2025.

The company's 2025 fiscal year also showed an increase in sales of 6.3% for the first nine months ending on the same date.

“Third quarter results reflect continued improvement in our U.S. Healthcare segment and benefits from our cost savings initiatives, while we continued to see weakness in our U.S. front-end sales,” Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. CEO Tim Wentworth said in a June 26 statement.

Walgreens focuses on turnaround plan

“We remain focused on our turnaround plan, which will require time, disciplined focus and a balanced approach to manage future cash needs with investments necessary to navigate an evolving pharmacy and retail environment,” Wentworth said.

A third drugstore chain, Rite Aid, hasn't fared as well as CVS and Walgreens.

Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy a second time

Drugstore chain Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 protection on May 5, 2025, and began closing all of its stores, which it estimated at the time to be about 1,240 locations.

The pharmacy chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the first time on Oct. 15, 2023, and closed about 800 of its 2,100 stores at the time.

Rite Aid is closing all of its store locations.

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Rite Aid closes 7 more store locations

Rite Aid has closed many more stores than it originally planned for when it filed for bankruptcy, as it filed its 18th notice of additional store closing locations in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on Aug. 22, seeking approval to close seven more stores and liquidate their assets.

The additional stores increased the number of designated locations for closing in its second bankruptcy to 1,281 stores.

The deadline for objections to the additional store location closings is Sept. 1, 2025.

The debtor, which opened its first store in 1962, has not indicated whether any remaining stores still need to be closed. The retailer filed its final location closing order on July 10.

Rite Aid's 18th additional closing notice includes seven store closures in two states: Oregon (5) and Washington (2).

Rite Aid's 1,281 store closures by state:

California (348)
Connecticut (15)
Delaware (29)
Idaho (8)
Maryland (23)
Massachusetts (4)
New Hampshire (49)
New Jersey (61)
New York (179)
Ohio (4)
Oregon (45)
Pennsylvania (354)
Vermont (5)
Virginia (26)
Washington (130)

Rite Aid already filed 18 other notices of store closing locations with the original notice and an additional notice on May 9 and 15 additional closing notices on May 15, May 23, May 30, two on June 6, June 13, June 20, June 27, July 3, July 11, July 18, July 21, July 25, Aug. 1, Aug. 8, and Aug. 15.

Both CVS and Walgreens, which have no plans to file for bankruptcy, have followed Rite Aid in closing hundreds of stores.

More bankruptcy:

CVS in 2021 launched a downsizing to close 900 of its nearly 9,900 stores to reduce costs and losses, cutting 300 locations each year in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

CVS closing 271 stores in 2025

The company subsequently revealed in its annual report in February 2025 that it would close 271 additional stores this year.

Walgreens, analyzed 2,000 of about 8,600 stores for possible closure and identified 1,200 locations to shutter over three years, with 500 set to close in fiscal year 2025.