A vinyl sign with the words “Store closing” hangs on the front of the Belpre Rite Aid. (Photo by Art Smith)

BELPRE — The Rite Aid at 201 Washington Blvd. in Belpre is closing down.

There are several signs on the building that indicate the store’s closure, but they do not detail the timeline.

Reporters contacted the Rite Aid media relations department, however they did not reach out to comment.

Following a bankruptcy announcement in October 2023, Rite Aid began to restructure their organization. The restructuring of the company included the shuttering of underperforming stores.

An additional bankruptcy filing was made Friday announcing the closure of an additional 30 stores in Ohio and Michigan. A total of 236 stores have closed since the start of June with only three of them from locations outside of Ohio and Michigan.

From the initial bankruptcy announcement in October, 729 stores have closed across the country. The closure of these stores is part of a plan to bring Rite Aid out of bankruptcy.

In June, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan authorized a plan that would allow the company to cut $2 million of their debt. Following the approval, Rite Aid turned control of the company over to investors.

Similar issues arose for competitors as they began the closure process of stores across the country. In the past few years CVS closed over 900 locations and Walgreens plans to close up to a quarter of their 8,600 locations.

Gwen Sour can be reached at gsour@newsandsentinel.com