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Pharmacies in flux following Rite Aid’s bankruptcy
The Bartell Drugs in the Olympic Village Shopping Center will close on Sept. 1, according to new owner CVS Pharmacy.
Prescription files will automatically transfer to what is now a Rite Aid on Point Fosdick Drive. But by the time the Bartell closes, that Rite Aid will be a CVS. Rhode Island-based CVS will convert the Point Fosdick store effective Aug. 12.
“Patients don’t have to do anything; the prescription file transfer to CVS Pharmacy will be seamless as well,” a CVS spokesperson said in an email to Gig Harbor Now.
A sign at the Rite Aid on Point Fosdick Drive announces the impending rebranding to CVS. Photo by Vince Dice
Rite Aid bankruptcy
Similar closures and rebrandings are happening around the country following Rite Aid’s most recent bankruptcy. As a result of the consolidation, the Bartell brand that was founded in Seattle in 1890 will disappear, according to the Seattle Times.
Rite Aid bought Bartell, one of the oldest companies in Washington state, for $95 million in October 2020.
But Rite Aid struggled after the acquisition, declaring bankruptcy in October 2023 and again in May of this year.
As part of the latter bankruptcy, CVS announced on May 15 that it had acquired 64 Rite Aid and Bartell stores in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. On June 20, CVS said it was rebranding 20 Bartells as CVS Pharmacies.
Apparently, the Olympic Village location didn’t make the cut. Not with CVS now operating the Rite Aid less than a mile away, just across Highway 16 at 4818 Point Fosdick Drive.
The Rite Aid on Point Fosdick Drive will become a CVS Pharmacy on Aug. 12. Photo by Vince Dice
Employees must apply at CVS
CVS Pharmacies requires employees at the local Rite Aid and Bartell, as well as others that are closing or rebranding, to apply for positions if they want to keep their jobs. The CVS spokesperson did not directly respond to a question about how many jobs are being eliminated versus how many open positions there are at the new CVS.
“For the stores we are buying and operating, we’ve established an expedited process to support Rite Aid/Bartell Drugs colleagues through application, hiring, and onboarding,” the spokesperson said. “We’re also interviewing Rite Aid/Bartell Drugs employees of locations we are not acquiring who are interested in joining the CVS Pharmacy team.”
On July 8, many empty merchandise shelves were evident at both the Bartell and Rite Aid in Gig Harbor. The CVS spokesperson said shelves will fill up again as the new management takes over. She cautioned that “the full store conversion process will take several weeks.”
Empty shelves at the Bartell Drugs in Olympic Village. Photo by Vince Dice