No plans yet to close downtown Rite Aid during, despite Walgreens deal
Published 12:27 pm Thursday, February 4, 2016
Despite ongoing corporate acquisition proceedings and local rumors to the contrary, there currently exist no plans to close or rebrand the Rite Aid Pharmacy at Island Village Shopping Center on High School Road.
The purchase of Rite Aid by Walgreens was “expected to close in the second half of 2016,” said Rite Aid corporate spokeswoman Kristin Kellum recently.
“Upon the completion of the merger Rite Aid will be a subsidiary of Walgreens,” she said.
Forbes reported earlier this month that the highly publicized acquisition of Rite Aid by Walgreens was ongoing, despite a Federal Trade Commission request for additional information regarding the purchase, a move described as “expected.”
The proposed $9.4 billion purchase plan was first announced late last year.
Bainbridge Island Rite Aid store officials said that many customers were inquiring as the fate of the store, under the impression it had already been purchased and was set to close – a rumor whose rise coincided with the construction and opening of a Walgreens at the nearby Wintergreen Walk development in November.
Originally known as the Visconsi shopping development, the outlet also boasts a KeyBank branch and is the confirmed future home of Virginia Mason medical clinic, which is expected to be completely relocated there from its current Winslow Way address by 2018.
Still, the concerns were unfounded, Kellum explained.
She said it was “too early” in the acquisition proceedings to speculate as to which, if any, Rite Aid stores would close or rebrand as part of the deal, and that things remained “business as usual” at the High School Road pharmacy for the foreseeable future.
Walgreens had previously announced that its contract with Rite Aid provides for divestments of up to 1,000 stores, should federal regulators require it, but also did not elaborate on which specific sites might be affected.
According to Forbes, Walgreens operates more than 8,000 stores and Rite Aid some 4,600. The acquisition would, even if 500 to 1,000 stores were sold to satisfy antitrust regulators, still make Walgreens a larger chain than its primary rival CVS Health.
