Bartell Drugs’ Ballard location to close next month

Bartell Drugs will close one of its two Ballard locations on June 8 over an array of concerns including the store’s financial performance. The store is the third Bartell location in Seattle to close in less than a year.

Rite Aid, which acquired Bartell in 2020, said the decision to close the Ballard store was based on factors “including business strategy, lease and rent considerations, local business conditions” and store performance. Rite Aid didn’t elaborate on these factors, and said it will work on transferring prescriptions to avoid disruption of services.

The closing Ballard store, which opened in 2014, is located at 1500 N.W. Market St. — below the Urbana Apartments complex. Its customers have CVS, Walgreens and Safeway within a walking distance. 

In September, Rite Aid closed a Bartell location in the Chinatown International District, stating similar factors. The September closure was the first time a Bartell location had closed since 2019, before Rite Aid’s $95 million acquisition. A Bartell location in University District also closed in April. Rite Aid said Tuesday it does not have plans to close additional stores.

Bartell’s sale to Rite Aid has been marked by hiccups including low inventory and staffing issues. Bartell, a 133-year-old pharmacy chain, has 64 locations in the Seattle metropolitan area and is one of the oldest companies in Washington. Rite Aid has 62 locations in the area.

While Rite Aid didn’t specify crime as a factor for closure, Ballard businesses, including Bartell, cited concerns about crimes such as shoplifting and assault, leading to financial losses and employees feeling unsafe in a 2020 survey.

Crime rates in Ballard have decreased since, according to data from Seattle Police Department. The total number of offenses declined from 2,901 in 2020 to 2,750 in 2022, data shows.

This story was updated to correct the number of Bartell stores have that closed in the past year and the number of Bartell locations in the Seattle area.