Rite Aid closing its doors in northeast Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Store closing signs covered the windows at the Rite Aid on Cedar and Gettysburg in northeast Fresno on Friday.

This is one of several stores closing across the country over the next month.

"I pulled up the other day to get a prescription the other day and saw that sign, and my stomach just went blurp," said Fresno resident Mary Jane Maudlin.

Rite Aid has faced financial problems for years. The drug store chain most recently filed for bankruptcy in May.

Just last month, the company announced it planned to keep its stores open as it tries to sell off its assets and plans to close all distribution centers.

People tell Action News, this is a loss for residents across the Central Valley.

"It's very sad because it's like a neighborhood market, you know. You know everybody, it's like how's your mother, Ginger, you know, it's sad," said Maudlin.

Less than 40 miles north, people in Chowchilla were welcomed by empty shelves and aisles blocked off.

People said they are upset because this is the only pharmacy in the city.

"I'm gonna miss it cause the farther I have to travel now to get the small things. I have to travel to Madera now," said Chowchilla resident Tony Korte. "It's gonna be very sad cause it's where all my medications are at. And I have to come and pick them up, now I have to go to a different pharmacy in Madera," said Esther Morales Mendoza.

This Chowchilla location is pushing all of its customers more than 15 miles south to this C-V-S location in Madera.

Morales-Mendoza said that for her and other senior citizens, the longer drive is troubling.

"I hate traveling in Madera because it's too much traffic for one, and then inconvenience, and then I have him, my husband, he has dementia, so it's kind of hard for me to be traveling with him," said Morales-Mendoza.

For more information on the closure, click here.