ShopRite To Close 23 NJ Pharmacies, Transfer Prescriptions To CVS

NEW JERSEY — ShopRite is closing 23 of its pharmacies in New Jersey over the next month, and all prescriptions filed through the pharmacy will be filled by CVS, a spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday morning.

Not all New Jersey ShopRite pharmacies are closing. While it isn’t clear which pharmacies are shutting down, Wakefern spokeswoman Karen O’Shea said the closures won’t have an effect on ShopRite’s coronavirus vaccination program (see list of ShopRite pharmacies offering the vaccine below).

O’Shea said the majority of the pharmacies, totaling 147, will remain open. ShopRite has nearly 280 stores in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland. A list of ShopRite stores in New Jersey can be found here.

“The pharmacy industry is highly competitive, and we were unable to sustain sufficient sales despite our marketing efforts, which led to the difficult decision to close these store pharmacies,” O’Shea said. “ShopRite remains committed to delivering a wide assortment of healthy, affordable foods and wholesome meal solutions with the exceptional ShopRite value and service our customers expect.”

ShopRite is notifying customers whose prescriptions are being transferred, and more signs with more information will be posted at the pharmacy counters, O’Shea said.

Pharmacists and technicians currently employed at the impacted ShopRite pharmacies will have the chance to interview with CVS, according to O’Shea. Support staff from those pharmacies will be offered jobs at the ShopRite stores.

“CVS is a trusted leader in the pharmacy business, and we are working together to make this a seamless transition for our pharmacy customers and associates,” O’Shea said.

ShopRite has been providing coronavirus vaccines through a partnership with the Pharmacy Partnership Strategy for COVID-19 Vaccination Program operated by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control, and has vaccinated more than 30,000 people as of Wednesday morning, O’Shea said.

The deal marks another major prescription drug acquisition for CVS, which took over Target’s pharmacies and clinics in 2015. More than 40 percent of prescription drug revenue nationwide went to CVS and the company that owns Walgreens in 2018, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Vaccine supplies have been very limited, but these were the 39 stores that were supposed to have it in supply:

• ShopRite Pharmacy of Absecon
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Berlin
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Bernardsville
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Byram
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Chews Landing
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Clark
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Clinton
• ShopRite Pharmacy of East Brunswick
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Elizabeth
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Englewood
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Flanders
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Glassboro
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Greater Morristown
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Greenwich
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Hamilton Marketplace
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Hazlet
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Hillsborough
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Hunterdon
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Lincoln Park
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Little Falls
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Livingston
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Marlboro
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Marmora
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Medford
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Millville
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Mullica Hill
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Newark
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Newton
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Pennington
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Rio Grande
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Rochelle Park
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Somers Point
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Spotswood
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Union Mill Road
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Upper Deerfield
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Washington
• ShopRite Pharmacy of West Milford
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Manahawkin
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Fischer Boulevard (Toms River)

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