Walgreens’ acquisition of Rite Aid is legally final. While Rite Aid stores throughout the country will either close or slowly transition, the fate of the Parsons location is clear: it will transition.
Walgreens acquired 1,932 Rite Aid stores through the purchase; of those, 600 will close. The 103 Rite Aid stores through West Virginia are all part of the deal. The company expects the full integration to be complete in 2020.
While many Rite Aid locations throughout the state may close, especially those already close to an existing Walgreens, the Parsons location will weather through.
Store Manager Jessica Vandevander said the change in ownership will not affect hours, staffing, or alcohol sales. She confirmed that the Parsons location will remain open. The location is currently considered a “Rite Aid in transition of Walgreens,” Vandevander said.
Continued acceptance of the Public Employees Insurance was a large concern for the community after the official merger was announced.
A February 9 post on West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency’s website read: “With Rite Aid’s acquisition by Walgreens, we’ve had some questions about what this means for our members. Rite Aid will continue to fill both 30-day acute and 90-day maintenance medications for PEIA members. You should see no change in your prescription coverage or access based on this takeover. If you have questions, please direct them to your local pharmacist.”
The deal between Walgreens and Rite Aid was in the works for years. The first purchase attempt was in 2015, which failed due to government antitrust pressure. Rite Aid received $4.4 billion for their remaining stores.
On the national scale, Walgreens store numbers are now competitive with CVS Health, which has about 9,600 locations throughout the United States.
