SEATTLE — Most who shop at Bartell Drugs or Rite Aid, for that matter, have seen the empty store shelves.
Now, the company is making it official. Rite Aid is selling off its assets to pay back creditors.
This taps into nostalgia for a lot of people around here.
Experts say Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs, also known as Bartell’s, are victims of the changing ways consumers get their prescriptions.
Stand-alone drug stores like this are no longer profitable.
“I’m sick of these people shutting down stuff, closing stuff,” said Deborah Dinkins. “This is ridiculous!”
It was unwelcome news to Dinkins that her neighborhood Bartell’s could become a casualty of a second bankruptcy by its parent company, Rite Aid.
“I’m not the only one that shops here,” she exclaimed. “They got a lot of people that come here and they’re very, very nice. The workers are nice. And now you’re telling me you’re going to close it down?”
Laylonna Walker, from Des Moines, was asked if Bartell’s going away would affect her. “Not really to be honest,” she said.
Walker says she rarely shops at Bartell’s.
“I just go here for prescriptions,” she said. “I have other areas to get prescriptions like Walmart, Safeway.”
Indeed, analysts say many prescriptions are now being filled where Americans get their health care.
“They want to keep you in the network,” said Dr. Jacob Vigdor, UW Policy & Governance professor. “They don’t want you to go to Bartell’s because they don’t want Bartell’s to have a cut of the money.”
And, says Dr. Vigdor, consumers often pay less.
“You’re still gonna have the same selection of prescriptions available,” he said, “and the price is generally going to be pretty good.”
It is, says this retired mergers and acquisitions guy, the way of the business world.
“Companies buy, sell, merge,” said Jim Hensley, Des Moines. “So, I see nothing wrong with it. From a business standpoint, it’s probably a good idea.”
On its website, even on Monday, Bartell’s says it is still hiring. Rite Aid says it plans to keep running and paying employees and its suppliers during bankruptcy.
©2025 Cox Media Group
