Rite Aid shutting down 27 more locations, bringing closure total to nearly 550 nationwide

Rite Aid is closing 27 more locations as it continues to work through a bankruptcy proceeding, according to a new court filing.

The store locations are in Ohio and Michigan. More than 520 have been closed since Rite Aid filed for reorganization in October — about a quarter of its footprint. The majority of closures have mostly occurred in the Pennsylvania-based drugstore’s home state and neighboring ones, with more than 100 also hitting California, Bloomberg data showed.

Rite Aid has been unable to keep up with competition from CVS, Walgreens and Target. In its initial Chapter 11 filing last fall, Rite Aid CEO Jeffrey Stein said the chain was “burdened by unprofitable stores”; bankruptcy proceedings often allow companies to exit leases cheaply.

Rite Aid has obtained more than $100 million in financing to exit the bankruptcy proceedings, but the latest closure announcements suggest it still faces hurdles in getting official approval to do so.