Big Rapids will bid farewell its Rite Aid out of stores all across the state, beginning with their closing down sales before their permanent closures.
The Big Rapids Rite Aid closed its doors on August 25, 2024. As it hosted an “everything must go” sale in stores, marking everything down from 80% off to 90% off in-store products, customers pulled up to take advantage of the sweet deals on pharmacies, groceries, beauty and health items.
Social work junior Jakayla Day was an employee at the Big Rapids Rite Aid, she gave insights on who frequented Rite Aid and the closure will affect prescriptions.
“[The prescriptions] automatically all got switched over to Walgreens and from Walgreens, if they want to transfer them they can,” Day said. “I would say a good amount of people come to Rite Aid, I feel like adults, the college students really just about everybody.”
In mid-October of 2023, Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to opioid-related lawsuits and declining sales. According to an MLive.com article., the US Department of Justice filed a complaint in March alleging that they “knowingly filled at least hundreds of thousands of unlawful prescriptions.” The Department of Justice reportedly agreed to a “brief pause” of its lawsuit after Rite Aid went bankrupt. Since the lawsuits, they have begun closing all stores in Michigan, as well as some in Ohio. In 2022, Rite Aid agreed to a $30 million settlement to resolve lawsuits that accused the pharmacy of contributing to the opioid crisis.
Since last fall, Rite Aid has listed 232 total Michigan stores for closure in bankruptcy filings. As the company deals with its losses, it began to close any underperforming stores, especially laying off 191 workers when it permanently closed its distribution center in Waterford on Aug.16.
Rite Aid has been a source of pharmaceutical needs, health, beauty and groceries. For some people, however, others simply came for the closing deals
Service technician and Ferris State alumni Ausha Gum does not frequent Rite Aid normally. She is one of the many people that came during Rite Aid’s closing sale.
“We’re in town and they have a huge discount right now, so cheap stuff,” Gum said. “It doesn’t matter, there’s plenty of different pharmacies so it’s not huge.”
People who depend on Rite Aid for their prescriptions can choose from other pharmacies in Big Rapids, such as Walgreens, Meijer and Walmart, among other places. It is currently unknown what will move into the Rite Aid building.