First CVS-converted Rite Aid opens in Newcastle amid pharmacy transition
Jul 14, 2025, 9:08 AM
A sign is posted in front of a Rite Aid store. (Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)
(Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)
The first Rite Aid store that CVS confirmed to take over the operations of is now open in Newcastle.
The store is located at 6939 Coal Creek Parkway S.E. in Newcastle.
In May, it was announced that CVS would take over many of the Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs locations that were closing in Washington, according to regulatory filings. The Newcastle location is one of 64 stores CVS is converting across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, according to The Puget Sound Business Journal.
That includes 20 Bartell Drugs locations, marking the end of an era for the local brand.
Rite Aid, which filed for bankruptcy for the second time in less than two years, agreed to sell more than 1,000 of its stores to a group of competitors. That group includes Walgreens, Albertsons, Kroger, Giant Eagle, and, for the Pacific Northwest, CVS Pharmacy. The Pennsylvania-based pharmacy chain entered bankruptcy with more than $2 billion in debt.
CVS wants to make the switch smooth for customers, as prescription files have already been transferred and loyalty programs are in place. Some former Bartell employees were kept on through the conversion.
All stores plan to be open by Oct. 1.
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Which Rite Aid stores in WA are closing?
Eight Rite Aid stores are closing in Washington across eight different cities.
Anacortes is losing its location at 1517 Commercial Avenue, while Ephrata is losing its store at 250 Basin Street. The other Rite Aid stores affected are in Granite Falls (608 W. Stanley Street), Kingston (27000 Miller Bay Road N.E.), North Bend (248 Bendigo Boulevard), Omak (609 Omache Drive), Snoqualmie (35013 Snoqualmie Parkway), and Yelm (909 E. Yelm Avenue).
The Ephrata and North Bend locations are Bartell’s pharmacy stores.
Bartell, founded in 1890 in Seattle, was believed to be the nation’s oldest existing family-owned drugstore chain until it was sold to Rite Aid in 2020 for $95 million.
Only California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania had more Rite Aid closures.
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