Rite Aid Pharmacy on 13th Avenue to Close its Doors Next Week

It has become an icon on 13^th Avenue, and this main business thoroughfare’s largest pharmacy.

It is unclear when it has begun to dispense the prescriptions and health and medical supplies of Boro Park residents, but this spot has served as a pharmacy for at least two decades, if not longer.

This Tuesday, October 12^th, will be its last day in business. Rite Aid will be shuttering permanently in a few days.

The store is quite large, and takes up three storefronts—quite a large amount of real estate in this expensive market, a fact that is primarily responsible for its demise. With its long-term lease expiring now, they can no longer afford the rent prices. A number of smaller, leaner pharmacies have cropped up around the area, and may possibly have eaten into its profits.  

Boropark24 has inquired with the Rite Aid staff and learned that all employees at the site will be relocated to other stores, continuing to work for the pharmacy chain.

“All prescriptions will be automatically transferred to the Duane Reade Pharmacy at the corner of 16^th Avenue and 48^th Street,” said an employee.

A bit of research uncovered that in 1940, this corner was a “house of worship,” and in 1980, it was a Waldbaum’s supermarket, which old timers may recall was one of the few stores open on Shabbos in this area.

Forty years later, and this corner of Boro Park is ready for the next chapter in its history, as the previous chapter is closed this Tuesday.