Latest news with #Bartell
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rite Aid closures adding up. Is your favorite Tacoma-area store on the list?
More Rite Aid/Bartell stores are closing in Washington state as a result of the chain's latest bankruptcy proceedings. A court filing entered May 23 included the following locations in the state among 151 additional stores set to close nationwide: ▪ Auburn: 1509 Auburn Way S. ▪ Maple Valley: 22117 SE 237th St. (Bartell Drugs) ▪ Milton: 900 East Meridian Suite 23 ▪ Port Orchard: 3282 Bethel Road S.E. ▪ University Place: 3840 Bridgeport Way W. Thirteen sites in the state, mostly Rite Aid but a few involving its subsidiary Bartell Drug, have been slated as closing, including previously announced locations in Anacortes, Ephrata, Granite Falls, Kingston, North Bend, Omak, Snoqualmie and Yelm. No specific closure dates were included, and Rite Aid representatives as of Wednesday afternoon had not responded to The News Tribune's request for more information. The Idaho Statesman reported this week that two Idaho stores added to the latest list are slated to close in June, with the retail and pharmacies closing on different dates. A Worker Adjustment and Training Notification filing with the state of Washington on May 7 listed 131 layoffs with Bartell Drug (Rite Aid) Distribution Center in Des Moines starting June 4. Both Bartell and Rite Aid have imposed deadlines for returns and gift card use as of June 5, and Rite Aid Rewards points stopped being issued on May 6. Rite Aid in mid-May announced that it had entered into a series of 'sale agreements and pharmacy services transition agreements' involving more than 1,000 stores. In Washington state, it noted the 'the sale and operation by CVS Pharmacy of many Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs stores located in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.' Amy Thibault is executive director, corporate communications – external Affairs for CVS Health. In an emailed statement, she told The News Tribune earlier this month, 'CVS Pharmacy participated in a bankruptcy court approved bidding process and has agreed to acquire the prescription files of 625 Rite Aid pharmacies across fifteen states in areas that CVS serves and to acquire and operate 64 Rite Aid stores in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.' CVS's bids were approved May 21 by the The U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New Jersey, and a release from CVS stated, 'Additional details will be available closer to the transaction closing dates in the coming weeks.' Sites that remain on Rite Aid's website as open in Pierce County include two stores in Tacoma (1912 N. Pearl St. and 7041 Pacific Ave.) stores in Bonney Lake, Lakewood and Spanaway and four locations in Puyallup. Bartell has three sites remaining in Pierce County (two in Tacoma, one in Gig Harbor). As for the switch, Thibault said CVS was working to ensure a 'seamless' transition for patients and customers with no interruptions of pharmacy care. 'Once the sale is finalized, we look forward to welcoming Rite Aid colleagues who are interested in applying to join the CVS team.'
Axios
15-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Bartell Drugs: A Seattle legacy fades away
Six Rite Aid and two Bartell Drugs locations in Washington are set to close following a new round of shutdowns approved in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Why it matters: Bartell Drugs isn't just a drugstore chain, it's a Seattle institution. Catch up quick: The family-run business has been a beloved local brand since 1890. It was known for stocking regional treats such as Theo Chocolate and Aplets & Cotlets before Rite Aid bought it in 2020. Since then, Rite Aid has filed twice for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and it's now in the process of selling and closing stores nationwide. The company plans to shut down all Bartell locations in the coming months unless a buyer steps in, KUOW reported last week. Driving the news: Washington is losing Bartell locations in Snoqualmie and North Bend, along with Rite Aid stores in Kingston, Yelm, Anacortes, Granite Falls, Omak and Ephrata, per the Seattle Times.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rite Aid and Bartell shoppers take note: Use your gift cards before time is up
Amid Rite Aid's bankruptcy news this week, deadlines have emerged for customers dealing with gift cards or returns tied to both the drugstore chain and subsidiary, Bartell Drugs. Collectively, the two drugstore brands have multiple storefronts in Pierce County, three for Bartell and 12 for Rite Aid, according to their websites. Philadelphia-based Rite Aid has more than 1,200 sites across 15 states. The chain acquired Seattle-based Bartell in 2020. As a result of Rite Aid's May 5 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, both Rite Aid and Bartell now post banners on their websites stating deadlines for using gift cards or points tied to purchases. 'Bartell's will no longer honor Bartell Drugs or Rite Aid gift cards or accept any return or exchanges beginning June 5,' Bartell Drugs states on its website. 'Beginning, May 6, 2025, Rite Aid Rewards points will no longer be issued for qualifying purchases,' Rite Aid states on its website. Additionally, 'Rite Aid will no longer honor Rite Aid gift cards or accept any return or exchanges beginning June 5.' The sites are set to either be sold off or closed, depending on the outcome of asset sales in the case. In a filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, attorneys for Rite Aid wrote that time was of the essence in gaining maximum value in a sale to another entity. The filing called for an expeditious sale, as prolonged bankruptcy proceedings would see the loss of more employees and customers, and their prescriptions as time wore on and noted Rite Aid fills more than 100 million prescriptions each year. 'Rite Aid's prescriptions are its most valuable asset,' the filing stated, 'Rite Aid must conduct a timely, orderly, court-supervised sale of its assets, including its prescriptions, to ensure an uninterrupted supply of medications to pharmacy-care customers who need them and preserve value for their estates.' Thinly stocked retail shelves already seen at some stores could become even more so in the coming weeks. 'I think what we'll progressively see is the stores will become more and more spartan,' retail analyst Neil Saunders told ABC News. The chain's attorneys wrote that despite emerging from its previous bankruptcy in 2023, 'it continued to experience macroeconomic, financial, and operational challenges that significantly impaired its front-end business relative to its business plan. The filing noted, 'The combined effect of inventory challenges, strained vendor relations, lower consumer spending, diminished foot traffic in stores, a delay in obtaining replacement letter of credit facilities, and competitive pressures has ultimately left the Company with insufficient liquidity to operate its business and service its debt obligations in the ordinary course.' It also noted that potential buyers for the pharmacy chain include 'a combination of national and regional retail pharmacy, grocery store, and general retail companies.' It added that 'all seven parties that submitted indications of interest continue to conduct diligence and remain in discussions with the debtors regarding potential sale transactions.'
Miami Herald
07-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Why the new Rite Aid bankruptcy could kill Seattle's Bartell Drugs
Business Why the new Rite Aid bankruptcy could kill Seattle's Bartell Drugs Rite Aid plans to sell off all of its assets, including Seattle staple Bartell Drugs, as it again files for bankruptcy protection. The national drugstore chain emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy last September after cutting its debt and shuttering stores across the country, including every Bartell store in downtown Seattle. Rite Aid also closed the flagship Bartell in Seattle's University Village shopping center earlier this year. As of last year, a little less than 100 Rite Aid stores and about 40 Bartell locations were left standing. They'll all be sold or eventually closed as Rite Aid pursues a sale for 'substantially all of its assets,' Rite Aid said in a statement Monday. The company will keep its stores open and operating throughout the sale process, with $1.94 billion in new financing commitments to support pharmacy services and employee wages. CEO Matt Schroeder said in a statement that potential national and regional buyers have expressed interest in the company and its assets. 'As we move forward, our key priorities are ensuring uninterrupted pharmacy services for our customers and preserving jobs for as many associates as possible,' he said. Rite Aid purchased Bartell in 2020 for $95 million, amid a strained time for the drugstore industry. National chains blamed increased theft, reduced consumer demand and a pandemic for drops in revenue and thinner profit margins. 'We felt that this was the only answer,' George D. Bartell, former chairman of Bartell, told the Times when the company was sold in 2020. 'It was getting more difficult for regional operators to compete in the market.' Bartell faced a tough path after its parent company emerged from bankruptcy last year. The market still wasn't kind to drugstore chains. Rite Aid's plan had bought them some breathing room but didn't inject adequate financing to revive the company, according to Neil Saunders, a managing director at data analysis company GlobalData. 'It didn't eliminate the debt or the cost of running stores,' he said. 'And because they didn't have much cash, their stores were just shelves and it started this cycle where customers didn't want to shop there because the stores were bare.' It's not just Rite Aid feeling the pressure. Pharmacy giants Walgreens and CVS are closing stores to settle their balance sheets. The general direction of drugstore chains is downward, Saunders said, but Rite Aid was the weakest of the three. With fewer than 30 locations remaining, Bartell stores could be sold. But Saunders, a retail industry veteran, expects more closures than sales. The other two big drugstore chains aren't looking to expand their portfolio, and grocery chains that operate pharmacies aren't in the market for stand-alone drugstores. Walgreens and CVS may look over the portfolio and cherry-pick a few locations, but aren't likely to scoop up a bunch of them. 'For Bartell it's a great shame because it's a good local brand,' Saunders said. 'I have no idea on Earth why Rite Aid bought them because it kind of represented the death knell for them.' Rite Aid and Bartell's struggles have created pharmacy deserts in the Seattle area, leading to longer travel and wait times for customers. The closure of a Bartell in the Chinatown International District turned a 5-minute walk to the closest retail pharmacy for residents to a 20-minute walk. If Rite Aid can't sell off its own stores or Bartell locations, it could also add to the glut of retail space in the Seattle area. The company operates about 1.3 million square feet of space in the metro area. So far, the retail market has been able to absorb pharmacy closures without too much trouble. Elliott Krivenko, director of market analytics for Seattle at CoStar, a real estate analytics company, said that segment of retail has been dynamic lately. Even with a wave of closures over the past few years, landlords have been able to fill up the spaces within about 6 to 8 months as companies like H Mart and Barnes & Noble are in expansion mode. Some Bartell locations are still vacant, adding a 30,000-square-foot empty box to the neighborhoods they occupy. But prime locations have already been turned around. Din Tai Fung, a popular Taiwan-based restaurant chain, is moving its University Village digs to the former Bartell store in the shopping complex. The shuttered Bartell at Fifth Avenue and Olive Way will become a deli later this year. However, big box stores like Big Lots, Jo Ann Fabrics and Party City are facing the same struggles as the drugstore industry and are closing stores. Collectively, those companies have vacated about 800,000 square feet of space in the Seattle metro area over the past year. 'If Rite Aid eventually adds another 1.3 million square feet to that, we are starting to really test the market for spaces in the 15,000 to 30,000 square foot range,' Krivenko said. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers. This story was originally published May 6, 2025 at 6:07 PM.
CNN
28-04-2025
- CNN
Teens' night of rock throwing leads to murder conviction for 1 of them
Three Denver-area teens cheered each other during a night of throwing rocks at cars — until one of the stones crashed through a windshield and killed a woman, leading to a murder conviction Friday after the trio turned on one another. Jurors found Joseph Koenig guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Alexa Bartell on April 19, 2023, after the other young men riding with him reached deals with prosecutors and testified against him. Koenig, now 20, was also convicted of attempted murder and other less serious crimes for rocks and other objects thrown at vehicles the night Bartell was killed and in previous weeks. Bartell's family and friends hugged and cried in court after the verdict. Her mother, Kelly Bartell, said later that justice had been done but she had mixed feelings, expressing some sympathy for Koenig and the other two young men, who were all 18 when her daughter was killed. 'It's hard to be happy or feel satisfied that justice was served today, because I feel one amazing life was lost and three others are also lost and impacted,' she said. Jurors had to consider shifting and competing versions of the truth offered by Koenig's former co-defendants during the two-week trial. No one disputed that a 9-pound (4-kilogram) landscaping rock taken from a Walmart parking lot crashed through Bartell's windshield, killing her instantly. The issue was who threw it. The only DNA found on the rock was Bartell's, making the testimony from the other two, Zachary Kwak and Nicholas Karol-Chik, key to the prosecution. Lawyers for Koenig said Kwak threw the rock that killed Bartell. But Kwak and Karol-Chik, whose plea agreements on lesser charges could lead to shorter prison sentences, said Koenig threw it. Although Karol-Chik said they each threw about 10 rocks that night, Kwak testified that he did not throw any. Chief Deputy District Attorney Katharine Decker told jurors the damage to Bartell's car was consistent with Koenig — who is left-handed and was driving — throwing the rock, shotput-style, out the driver's-side window, as Karol-Chik testified. Even if jurors were unconvinced that Koenig threw it, she told them, they should still find him guilty of first-degree murder as a conspirator. Koenig's attorneys said he did not know anyone had been hurt until Bartell's car went off the road. They also argued that he had borderline personality disorder, affecting his impulse control and judgment. Defense lawyer Martin Stuart asked jurors to instead find Koenig guilty of manslaughter, the least serious charge he faced, saying he did not knowingly try to kill her. Jurors also had the option of finding him guilty of manslaughter as a conspirator. After seeing Bartell's car leave the road, the three friends circled back a few times to look again, according to testimony. Kwak took a photo as a memento, but no one checked on the driver or called for help, according to their testimony. Bartell's body would not be discovered until her girlfriend, Jenna Griggs, who was on a call with her when it abruptly cut out, tracked her phone to the field, she testified. The three agreed not to talk to anyone about what happened, but Kwak, the newest to the group of friends, later told investigators that Koenig threw the rock. Karol-Chik, who said Koenig was like a 'brother' to him, initially pointed the finger at Kwak before changing his story and blaming Koenig. Karol-Chik testified that Koenig seemed 'excited' as they drove by Bartell's car and at one point made a 'whoop' sound. 'It sounded like him celebrating,' said Karol-Chik, who admitted placing the rock next to Koenig so he could grab it and throw it. Koenig's lawyers tried to cast doubt on the reliability of the other men's accounts but also stressed that none of the three intended to hurt anyone. The defense declined to comment on the conviction. Kwak entered into a plea deal first, pleading guilty in May 2024 to first-degree assault. In doing so he acknowledged acting in a way that created a grave risk of death. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and attempted second-degree assault for rocks that were thrown earlier in the night. He faces between 20 and 32 years in prison, according to prosecutors. About a week later, Karol-Chik pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and committing a crime of violence. He also pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder for throwing rocks at a total of nine people that night and earlier in 2023. Under his agreement, Karol-Chik could be sent to prison for between 35 and 72 years when he is sentenced Thursday, a day before Kwak. Koenig is to be sentenced June 3 and faces a mandatory life term for the murder conviction.
