Rite Aid To Close More Than 60 Stores

Ceremony Help mentioned it should shut 63 shops in a cost-cutting transfer designed to assist the pharmacy chain be extra aggressive.

Ceremony Help, which has struggled in recent times to compete with bigger rivals Walgreens, CVS Well being and Walmart pharmacies, said Tuesday it is “conducting a rigorous evaluation of its retailer base and has applied a retailer closure program.” The corporate didn’t disclose places of the closures that started in November.

“This system’s major focus is to cut back prices, drive improved profitability and make sure that Ceremony Help has a wholesome basis to develop from, with the precise shops in the precise places, for the communities it serves and for its enterprise,” Rite Aid said in the announcement, which was a part of the corporate’s earnings report for its fiscal third quarter ended November 27.

Pharmacy reimbursement pressures and aggressive threats like on-line retailer Amazon’s push into pharmacy are forcing drugstore chains to take a look at new methods to reinvent their brick-and-mortar drugstores, promoting new merchandise and including extra healthcare providers. 

Ceremony Help chief government officer Heyward Donigan mentioned the shop closures are a primary part. “We have now recognized an preliminary 63 shops for closure that’s anticipated to offer an annual EBITDA profit of roughly $25 million,” Donigan mentioned.

Ceremony Help mentioned it has greater than 2,400 retail pharmacy places throughout 17 states. By comparability, CVS and Walgreens every have greater than 9,000 shops.

Ceremony Help has been shedding cash in current quarters and its fiscal third quarter was no totally different. On Tuesday, the company reported net loss from persevering with operations of $36.1 million, or $0.67 loss per share. In the meantime, revenues from persevering with operations had been up barely to $6.23 billion for the quarter in comparison with $6.12 billion within the prior yr’s quarter.