Rite Aid drugstores will leave Encinitas entirely in the coming weeks, according to an updated closures list filed in an ongoing bankruptcy case.
The store, at 439 Santa Fe Drive in Cardiff across the street from Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas, is closing its pharmacy by April 17, according to a Rite Aid employee. A liquidation sale is underway through May 16.
The first closure occurred at the end of last August when the Rite Aid location on Manchester Avenue in Olivenhain was shuttered. It preceded the closures of several locations in the region, and more nationwide, as Rite Aid entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy late last year.
At the end of March, a federal bankruptcy judge gave the green light to a Rite Aid restructuring plan that would turn over much of the company’s equity to bondholders while keeping a possible sale as an option.
The recent court filing, which contains the closure list, has been circulated on social media.
Since 2023, stores in Oceanside and Ramona have been closed, among others in San Diego County. On the latest list of proposed closures, only Lemon Grove was the other San Diego County location. Two stores in Southwest Riverside County were listed for closure: Lake Elsinore and Winchester.
The Santa Fe Drive Rite Aid location opened in the 1960s as a Thrifty drugstore. Known for its ice cream, Thrifty’s brand continued to be sold by Rite Aid after the company absorbed Thrifty stores in 1996.
Residents can still get a Thrifty ice cream fix even with Rite Aid’s closure, however. The brand has been spotted at local supermarkets such as Gelson’s in La Costa.