Rite Aid in Bensonhurst set to close on April 30

Another Southwest Brooklyn pharmacy is closing at the end of the month.

The Rite Aid at 8222 18th Ave., Bensonhurst, will be permanently closing on April 30, according to the drugstore chain’s corporate office.

“The decision to close a store is not one we take lightly,” a Rite Aid representative said in a statement. “While we have had to make difficult business decisions over the past several months to improve our business and optimize our retail footprint, we are committed to becoming financially and operationally healthy. 

“Demand for our products and services remains strong, and we continue to serve our customers with the same high-quality service they have come to expect from us. We believe we are taking the right approach to becoming more agile as we meet the health and wellness needs of customers in the communities we serve,” the statement read.

The Bensonhurst store’s scheduled shutdown is one of many Brooklyn closings over the past few years for the pharmacy chain. Rite Aid has seen its share of financial troubles, especially since the COVID era.

Last year, a Rite Aid at 960 Halsey St. in Bushwick closed. In 2023, locations also shuttered at 6201-23 Fourth Ave., 185 Kings Highway and 2002 Avenue U. In 2022, a Rite Aid at 7501 Fifth Ave. shut its doors.

According to the Associated Press, the company lost about $1.3 billion in the first half of its fiscal year for 2023. That October, the Rite Aid chain filed for bankruptcy, although it emerged from Chapter 11 a year later.

However,  the chain has been considering a repeat bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month.

The news comes just weeks after Duane Reade announced its Sunset Park store at 5008 Fifth Ave. will close its doors May 21.