Would you like to buy this Rite Aid? Soon, you can!
Photo: Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Rite Aid is shuttering or selling off 178 stores and distribution centers across New York, including 35 in the city, per an announcement this week. The spaces available range from nearly 9,000 square feet in Sunset Park to just under 11,000 on a leafy West Village block. Every location in New York is up for grabs, so it seems that now would be a good time to buy an old Rite Aid, if you want one.
The Pennsylvania-based chain, which currently operates 1,240 stores nationwide, filed for Chapter 11 on Monday — less than a year after it exited its prior bankruptcy proceedings. According to Axios, the company will be selling off any remaining assets in the coming months while trying to offload its stores and pharmacy business. “There have been some rumors about stores closing immediately and going dark, especially in New York,” Alice Eaton, an attorney with the Paul Weiss law firm, said Wednesday. “These rumors are not true.” (Except in the case of a Rite Aid in Bensonhurst, which is in fact set to close on Monday.)
Will these mass closures add to the city’s so-called “zombie pharmacy” problem? Perhaps! Last year, the New York Times reported that when major pharmacy chains close a store, the companies are often locked into multiyear leases, and rents, that they are still responsible for — which means landlords often have zero incentive to quickly find a replacement. (Like, say, Spirit Halloween.) Instead, many of these storefronts are left empty to collect dust.
That said, City of Yes rezoning changes have cleared the way for new “experiential” uses in commercial and other districts, so it’s possible the Rite Aid where you used to buy Doritos and meds could soon be a place to play laser tag or sink into mono-color ball pits.