Rite Aid to Exit Las Vegas Market

Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) announced today that it will terminate its operation of the 28 Rite Aid stores in the Las Vegas, Nevada area and has signed an agreement to sell patient prescription files of the 27 stores in the Las Vegas metro market to Walgreens. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Rite Aid said it is in the process of also selling the prescription files of the one store it operates in Mesquite, Nevada and will also close that store. Rite Aid said it will continue to operate its remaining store in Nevada in Gardnerville, which is close to the border of California where Rite Aid has more than 600 stores. Rite Aid said Las Vegas was a non-core market for the company that has not been contributing to overall results. The company hasn’t opened a new store in the Las Vegas area since 1999. Transfer of the prescription files to nearby Walgreens will take place over the next week, and customers whose prescriptions are being transferred will be notified by letter as well as signage in the stores. Rite Aid said it would work closely with Walgreens to make sure the transfer of all the prescriptions goes smoothly so as not to disrupt serving patients. Rite Aid said it was working with interested parties on selling or assigning the leases on the 28 buildings. The company said it will close the stores, which are located in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson and Mesquite, over the next three months as it sells or liquidates non-prescription merchandise. Rite Aid Corporation is one of the nation’s leading drugstore chains with more than 5,000 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Information about Rite Aid, including corporate background and press releases, is available through the company’s website at www.riteaid.com. This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements include our high level of indebtedness, our ability to make interest and principal payments on our debt and satisfy the other covenants contained in our senior secured credit facility and other debt agreements, our ability to improve the operating performance of our stores in accordance with our long term strategy, our ability to realize the benefits of the Brooks Eckerd acquisition, our ability to hire and retain pharmacists and other store personnel, the efforts of private and public third-party payors to reduce prescription drug reimbursements and encourage mail order, competitive pricing pressures, continued consolidation of the drugstore industry, changes in state or federal legislation or regulations, the outcome of lawsuits and governmental investigations, general economic conditions and inflation, interest rate movements and access to capital. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these and other factors, risks and uncertainties. Readers are also directed to consider other risks and uncertainties discussed in documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements can be identified through the use of words such as "may", "will", "intend", "plan", "project", "expect", "anticipate", "could", "should", "would", "believe", "estimate", "contemplate", and "possible".