Western New Yorkers say goodbye to several local Rite Aid locations

"It was a great store for as long as it lasted"
Rite Aid
Photo credit Getty Images

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It's closing time for 68 Western New York Rite Aid locations effective Wednesday, as stores across the nation have been preparing for the permanent closure of locations after the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month.

While not all Rite Aid stores locally are set to close right away, several Western New Yorkers are now left without a destination for medications or other needs in their community.

"Mostly I come here for prescriptions, so I'm gonna have to find a new place to get prescriptions now," said Greg from Buffalo with WBEN.

"There's going to be very serious complications because I need to get prescriptions filled here, and I have a hard time walking around. So it's very convenient for me to come right across the street from where I live," added Bob from Kenmore. "Plus, I'm gonna miss the people who work here too."

One local resident expressed her frustrations with Rite Aids closing shop, saying it's adding stress to some of her older neighbors.

"I think it's ridiculous, because the older people that live in apartment buildings down my street, where else are they going to go? They can't walk that far. I just feel sorry for them," she said in an interview with WBEN.

Some people had been relying on Rite Aid for a while as a spot to pick up some essential needs and other goods for home, while also being a destination as a pharmacy. Now, many are left clearing out what's left of the shelves that have mostly sat barren for months.

Many residents feel the closure of these Rite Aid stores will leave a hole in the community.

"My aunt used to get her prescriptions at Rite Aid, now it's up to me or her son to go pick up her medicine at Walgreens. So it's really difficult," said the one local resident.

She adds if her neighbors come calling for someone to pick up medications from another store, she'd be willing to help them so they don't have to pay for any delivery fees from other pharmacies.

For other residents who are losing their pharmacy at Rite Aid, they admit it'll be hard to find another location to pick up their medications.

"Some of the other pharmacies won't accept my insurance cards. That's a big problem there. You've got to call all these different places and find out who takes what," Bob said with WBEN.

"There's other places around, but this is more convenient. It's closer to my house, I only live a couple blocks from here," added Greg.

Some residents are hopeful that another company similar to a Rite Aid will move into the vacant stores and provide a pharmacy for residents in the future. However, others are less optimistic.

"There's a Rite Aid [down the road], and that's been closed for over a year or so. I don't think that's gonna turn into anything," one resident said.

The closure of local Rite Aids have been impactful not just on the residents living nearby, but also for those who continue to find employment with the company during this process.

"I have to basically go store-to-store, transfer medications from one location to another location that's remaining open at the time. It's just been very hectic," said one employee who has spent 18 years working for Rite Aid. "A lot of the employees there are very sad because everybody's losing their job, basically. So we're just trying to go day-by-day until everything's done."

Even though this employee says she has been waiting for termination papers to come her way for the last several months, she has still be helping residents find another option to get the medications they desperately need.

"I basically have been telling the customers to find a good pharmacy that they feel comfortable with, and they also take their insurance," she said. "Some other pharmacies like Walgreens, CVS, they stopped taking some insurances, so we just tell them talk to your doctor, see what pharmacy you're going to feel comfortable with, where they can just transfer all new medications to that pharmacy."

She has also found it difficult herself to find a new place to get the medications she needs whenever she falls ill.

"I have Fidelis, and some insurances like that, they don't take it at some pharmacies. I already found one, hopefully I'll be able to remain there, which is CVS for now. But it's just been hard trying to get everything transferred over," she noted. "You basically got to go from the doctor to have them transferred over to that pharmacy."

As for her future employment, this Rite Aid employee is hopeful that something else will come along that fits her qualifications.

"Right now, I did apply at some other places because I do have other certifications and other good backup that I have. But so far, I haven't got called yet at any other places," she said. "CVS and Walgreens have approached us, even Tops has approached us to see if we need employment. So far, we just been filling applications here and there to see where we end up."

The remaining five Western New York Rite Aid locations will also soon close, but it is not known at this time when they will cease operations. Of the 73 total Western New York locations, 13 of them were located in the City of Buffalo.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Getty Images