The Rite Aid located at 5409 Sunrise Boulevard in the Sunrise Villlage Shopping Center in Citrus Heights is closing as the company undergoes a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Photo by Thomas J. Sullivan

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - Pharmacy chain Rite Aid announced, Tuesday, October 17, it will be closing its remaining store in Citrus Heights at 5409 Sunrise Boulevard in the Sunrise Villlage Shopping Center on Wednesday, November 1st as part of a federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

The store employs a staff of about a dozen people, many who were busy last week discounting merchandise for clearance sale.

Rite Aid is planning an initial round of store closures across the country as part of its bankruptcy process that will impact 154 stores, including 31 in California, court documents show.

An interim court order filed in United States bankruptcy court in New Jersey detailed the initial list of store closures which includes a location on Fulton Avenue in Sacramento and the Citrus Heights Sunrise Boulevard store.

The Sunrise Village Shopping Center is owned and managed by Merlone Geier Partners, with offices in Rancho Cordova. Tiffany Clement, property manager for Merlone Geier, confirmed that Rite Aid does not physically own its own building in the shopping center.

The 21,440-square-foot store was built in 1974 according to records of the Sacramento County Assessor’s office.

Originally known as Thrifty Drugs before its acquisition by Rite Aid, it was the only major store within the Sunrise Village Shopping Center which was not included in the scope of a multi-million-dollar remodeling project which was recent completed.

Two new adjacent anchor tenants, Club Studio Fitness and a yet to be named grocery store are under construction.  An adjacent Visionworks – Doctors of Optometry, located next door, celebrated its grand opening on October 6th.

“The closure of Rite Aid may create an opportunity for a new tenant to positively add to the current mix of businesses in the center,” said Kathilynn Carpenter, executive director of Sunrise MarketPlace.

The shuttering of the Rite Aid store in the Sunrise Village Shopping Center is the third in Citrus Heights to close over the past five years. A location in the Citrus Town Center closed in 2018 and another Rite Aid store near the corner of Auburn Boulevard and Van Maren Lane closed in May 2023.

According to the company, the underperforming closing stores are spread throughout the U.S. but are concentrated in California as well as northeastern states including New York and Pennsylvania.

Local Citrus Heights Rite Aid store management would not publicly comment on the pending closure and referred all questions to its media relations department for further comment.

“Rite Aid regularly assesses its retail footprint to ensure we are operating efficiently while meeting the needs of our customers, communities, and associates,” the company said. “In connection with the court-supervised process, we intend to close certain underperforming stores to further reduce rent expenses and strengthen overall financial performance,” according to a company announcement.

In 2022, Rite Aid settled for up to $30 million to resolve lawsuits alleging pharmacies contributed to an oversupply of prescription opioids. It said it had reached an agreement with its creditors on a financial restructuring plan to cut its debt and position itself for future growth and that the bankruptcy filing was part of that process.

Prescriptions of customers of the affected stores will be transferred to a nearby Rite Aid or other drug store “so that there is no disruption of service,” the company said in a statement. People who work at the stores will also be transferred to other Rite Aid locations where possible, the company said.

Rite Aid at 5409 Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights is open Monday through Sunday from 8 am to 10 pm. Pharmacy hours are Monday through Friday from 9 am to 9 pm, Saturday from 9 am to 6 pm and Sunday from 10 am to 6pm. Call (916) 961-2064 for more information.