CVS Pharmacy Acquires Select Rite Aid Assets in 3 States, Accounting for Over 600 Stores

CVS Pharmacy announced the completion of its acquisition of select Rite Aid assets in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

“We’re excited to have completed the acquisition of select Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs stores in the Pacific Northwest, as well as the acquisition of prescription files of hundreds of Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs pharmacies across 15 states,” Len Shankman, executive vice president and president of pharmacy and consumer wellness at CVS Health, said in a news release.¹ “We’re helping maintain and expand access to convenient and trusted pharmacy care across the US and growing our retail footprint and presence in local communities. From our innovative pharmacy care programs to our exclusive store brand products, we look forward to showing Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs patients and customers all that CVS has to offer.”

In total, CVS has acquired and is now operating 63 former Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs stores in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Further, the company also acquired the prescriptions of 626 former pharmacies in 15 states. As part of the acquisition, CVS has also hired more than 2500 former Rite Aid and Bartell Drug employees, and the company is focusing on scheduling additional support, enhancing recruitment and hiring, and strengthening training services across the franchises.¹

In May 2025, Rite Aid announced the transition of pharmacy assets from over 1000 locations to CVS, Walgreens, and other retailers, which also detailed the agreement with CVS to hand over multiple stores in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. In the same month, Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which marked the second filing in under 2 years. The first filing came in October 2023, but the company continued to finance financial hardships due to the evolving retail and health care landscapes.²

“You're seeing a lot of very successful pharmacies close. It isn't as if those owners that were successful for 25 years have all of a sudden become bad business owners,” Rob Frankil, RPh, executive director of the Philadelphia Association of Retail Druggists, said in an interview.³ “Even the big chains are having trouble. It's not just independent pharmacies here. This is a community pharmacy problem across the country, not an independent community pharmacy problem.”

Rite Aid is not the only large chain community pharmacy that has been dealing with financial issues. In March 2025, Walgreens also announced an agreement to be acquired by Sycamore Partners—a private equity firm—for $23.7 billion. In addition, Walgreens and CVS have also closed hundreds of locations across the US.²

“It's a serious problem because pharmacies are closing throughout America. Here's another almost 1300 stores that are closing. There's been more than 7000 pharmacies that have closed over the last 7 years,” Douglas Hoey, RPh, MBA, CEO of NCPA, said in an interview.⁴ “Just in that short amount of time, there's 7000 fewer choices. Now, here's 1200 fewer choices from Rite Aid. Walgreens has announced they're going to close 1200 pharmacies. They announced that 6 months ago, and there will be more closures in addition to those. That's a problem.”

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REFERENCES

1. CVS Pharmacy completes acquisition of Rite Aid assets nationwide. News release. CVS Health. October 15, 2025. Accessed October 15, 2025. https://www.cvshealth.com/news/retail/cvs-pharmacy-completes-acquisition-of-rite-aid-assets-nationwide.html

2. Meara K. Rite Aid to sell pharmacy assets from over 1000 stores to CVS, Walgreens. Drug Topics. May 16, 2025. Accessed October 15, 2025. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/rite-aid-to-sell-pharmacy-assets-from-over-1-000-stores-to-cvs-walgreens

3. Meara K, Frankil R. Q&A: pharmacy closures, PBM reforms, and how pharmacists can effectively advocate. Drug Topics. March 26, 2025. Accessed October 15, 2025. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/q-a-pharmacy-closures-pbm-reform-and-how-pharmacists-can-effectively-advocate

4. Meara K, Hoey D. Q&A: Douglas Hoey on how Rite Aid’s closure will impact independent pharmacies. Drug Topics. May 12, 2025. Accessed October 15, 2025. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/q-a-douglas-hoey-on-how-rite-aid-s-closure-will-impact-independent-pharmacies