Customers are being met with empty shelves, discounted items, and store fixtures for sale as all the Santa Barbara Rite Aid stores prepare to close for good. 

The Rite Aid stores on Cliff Drive and Milpas Street in Santa Barbara are officially closing in the coming weeks after four other locations in Santa Barbara County announced closures last month.  

Stores at 1976 Cliff Drive and 35 S. Milpas St. have mostly empty shelves, with a few remaining items such as greeting cards, gift cards and personal care items. The Cliff Drive store has little inventory, and what is left is heavily discounted.

In June, the company announced that two Rite Aids in Santa Maria as well as ones in Solvang and Goleta were closing as part of nationwide store closures after the company filed for bankruptcy for the second time in two years. 

At that time, the company didn’t indicate the two Santa Barbara stores would also close.

All phone lines and prescriptions at the six local Rite Aid stores have been redirected to local CVS pharmacies.

In May, the company announced that pharmacy assets from more than 1,000 stores would be transferred to various retailers, including Walgreens, CVS, Albertsons, and Kroger.

Earlier this month USA Today reported that Thrifty Ice cream, Rite Aid’s popular in-store ice cream brand, was bought by Hilrod Holdings, a holding company, tied to Monster Beverage Corporation executives Hilton Schlosberg and Rodney Sacks. 

The holding company was set to pay $19.2 million for the ice cream brand’s assets, according to court documents.