MICHIGAN, USA — Every single Rite Aid store in Michigan is closing.
This includes stores in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Rockford, Cedar Springs and dozens of other West Michigan locations.
All told, 186 stores will close by the end of September, a Rite Aid spokesperson confirmed with 13 ON YOURS SIDE.
Patients with prescriptions at Rite Aid will be transferred to Walgreens, the spokesperson said. You can expect to get a letter that explains the next steps.
If you're not interested in having your prescription sent to a nearby Walgreens store, you can contact a new pharmacy of your choice to begin the prescription transfer yourself.
You can do this online (if the store allows this), call ahead, or stop inside the store. Have your name, number, address, dosage, and the name of the prescriptions you want to transfer handy.
This is the first time Rite Aid is publically acknowledging that all Michigan stores will close. It's been widely anticipated after another big wave of store closures in June.
Back in 2021, Rite Aid announced plans to close stores in the U.S. to save around $25 million a year following other pharmacy chains shuttering locations. Then in 2023, Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and continued shuttering stores.
Rite Aid shared a statement about the latest closures:
Rite Aid regularly assesses its retail footprint to ensure we are operating efficiently while meeting the needs of our customers, communities, associates and overall business. While we have had to make difficult business decisions over the past several months to improve our business and optimize our retail footprint, we are committed to becoming financially and operationally healthy.
