The great American drugstore shakeout has claimed another victim — as yet another regional favorite vanishes from the high street.
After 135 years in business, one of Washington’s most iconic pharmacy chains has shut its doors for good, closing its final three locations last weekend after weeks of inventory blowouts.
The collapse follows a wave of struggles across the sector, with giants such as Rite Aid filing for bankruptcy and Walgreens and CVS also shuttering hundreds of stores as customer habits shift and financial pressures mount.
The latest casualty is Bartell Drugs, a Seattle-based chain once beloved for its local identity and community focus. Founded in 1890, it was acquired by Rite Aid in 2020, when it had 67 stores.
But years of turmoil at both companies saw locations gradually rebranded or shuttered before the final closures in Kirkland, Mill Creek and Gig Harbor.
Molly Lavinter, 48, described the closings as the ‘end of an era’, to the Seattle Times.