Ashland, Hazleton Rite Aid locations next and last on local chopping block

ASHLAND – By the end of the summer, Rite Aid will no longer be in our area.

The ailing pharmacy chain closed its Shenandoah and Frackville locations for good on June 29.

This followed the closure of the Mahanoy City location in May.

A few weeks ago, Hazleton’s location on North Church Street was added to the growing list of closures and, this past week, Ashland’s was added, too.

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The Philadelphia-based pharmacy chain is in the midst of its second bankruptcy and will eventually close every store.

Rite Aid was the only major pharmacy chain in northern Schuylkill County. The only other pharmacies in this part of the county are Morris Drug, Mahanoy City; and Redner’s Pharmacy, Turkey Run. CVS has locations in Mount Carmel, Hazleton, and Pottsville, and Walmart offers pharmacy services as well.

The Shenandoah Rite Aid location was the last new commercial building built downtown until construction began on the Center for Education, Business, and the Arts last year. It filled a void left by a major fire in the 1990’s that wiped out most of the unit block of South Main Street.

Since Rite Aid came to the area, numerous independent or smaller chains closed, including RxD Pharmacy in the late 2000’s and Bracey Pharmacy in Ashland more recently.

Rite Aid has not announced a final day for the Ashland store, but it is expected to be before the end of the summer.

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