As yet another local favorite disappears from the high street, the great American pharmacy shakeout has claimed another victim.

Following weeks of inventory blowouts, one of Washington’s most recognizable drugstore companies closed its last three locations last weekend, permanently closing its doors after 135 years in operation.

The fall comes after a wave of difficulties in the industry, including the bankruptcy of industry titans Rite Aid and the closure of hundreds of outlets by Walgreens and CVS due to shifting consumer behavior and mounting financial strain.

Bartell Drugs, a Seattle-based chain that was formerly adored for its local character and community commitment, is the most recent tragedy. Established in 1890, it had 67 locations when it was purchased by Rite Aid in 2020.

However, following years of unrest at both businesses, some sites were closed or rebranded progressively until the ultimate closures in Gig Harbor, Mill Creek, and Kirkland.

Molly Lavinter, 48, told the Seattle Times that the closures marked the “end of an era.”

“I grew up with Bartell’s,” Lavinter remarked as she stood outside the Bartell in Gig Harbor, its windows covered in yellow banners. It’s like witnessing the passing of my youth.

In the Puget Sound area, Bartell Drugs was renowned for its community service, local focus, and involvement. It promoted local activities, frequently carried goods from local vendors, and had a strong sense of place.

George H. Bartell Sr. founded the store in 1890, and its headquarters were in Seattle, Washington.

In the United States, Bartell Drugs was thought to be the oldest chain of family-run pharmacies.

The chain’s financial problems started off slowly before suddenly getting worse.

Two months after Rite Aid declared its second bankruptcy, in July, CVS announced that it would acquire 20 of the 34 Bartell locations that were still in operation.

The selected locations were rebranded by CVS throughout the summer.

Prescriptions for the 14 remaining stores were forwarded to local CVS locations, and their pharmacies were closed.

As liquidation crews arrived to sell the remaining items, signs outside began to come down.

As bargain seekers made their way down the aisles in pursuit of last-minute bargains, the distinctive sweets, wine, and gifts that had adorned the drugstore’s shelves had vanished.

John Lewis, 56, a former regional manager and food and beverage buyer for Bartell, said, “We tried to stay local and quirky.” Lewis visited a former coworker at the Mill Creek store on Friday.

The closures came as no surprise to Bartell’s staff and customers. It was obvious that things were becoming worse after Rite Aid bought the chain years ago.

The larger drugstore chain pledged to preserve Bartell’s distinctive business model, and Rite Aid thought the acquisition would ease its own financial difficulties.

However, Rite Aid’s issues became a complete catastrophe due to the pandemic, and both brands reached a point where they could not be recovered from.

After establishing its first location in 1962 in Pennsylvania, Rite Aid swiftly rose to prominence as one of the country’s most well-known pharmaceutical chains.

The chain was the third-largest drugstore in the United States at its height in 2008, with over 5,000 outlets.

Before being compelled to declare bankruptcy in 2023, the business had been having financial difficulties for a while.

At that point, the chain had 2,100 locations and was preparing to eliminate hundreds more after obtaining $3.45 billion in fresh funding to develop a reorganization strategy.

After cutting $2 billion in debt and obtaining $2.5 billion in exit finance, the plan was initially effective.

But when its reorganization efforts gradually failed, Rite Aid was preparing for its second bankruptcy in April of this year.

There are other large pharmacies that have had difficulties besides Rite Aid. Even CVS has been compelled to close its stores nationwide.

The drugstore, which operated more than 9,000 sites in the US, said earlier this year that 270 of its shops would close this year.

The corporation first announced the closures in October of last year, and they have been taking place in a variety of states, with the most closures occurring in Alabama, New York, Maryland, and Missouri.

Boat Catastrophe: 14-Year-Old Survives Underwater Nightmare That Killed 34

a tourist boat capsized in severe conditions, killing at least 34 passengers and leaving eight more unaccounted for.

Around 2:00 pm local time, the disaster occurred in Ha Long Bay, a well-liked tourist area in the country’s north.

According to reports, most of the passengers were Vietnamese families traveling from the capital Hanoi, with about 20 youngsters.

According to Vietnamese authorities, the boat, dubbed Wonder Seas, was carrying 53 people when it sank during an unexpected thunderstorm: 48 tourists and five staff members.

According to local news website VNExpress, rescuers have so far recovered 27 bodies, including eight children, and saved 11 people.

Strong gusts are thought to have caused the boat to capsize; on Saturday, there were also reports of lightning and a lot of rain in the vicinity.

One of the survivors was a 14-year-old child who was rescued four hours after being trapped in the wrecked hull.

As rescue personnel continue to search for survivors, no official announcement regarding the nationality of the tourists has been made thus yet.

According to Ha Long Bay resident Tran Trong Hung, “the sky turned dark at around 2 pm.”

He claimed that there were “toe-sized hailstones with lightning, thunderstorms, and torrential rain.”

27 boats and two rescue craft are reportedly on the scene while police, the Navy, border guards, and port authorities continue to search the waterways.

Additionally, teams of divers have been looking for the missing people both inside the cabin of the overturned ship and in the surrounding area.

VnExpress reports that the boat was traveling through Ha Long Bay around 12:55 p.m. when the storm hit at 1:30 p.m.

The Quang Ninh Provincial People’s Committee was cited by the local newspaper as saying that the ship had lost its GPS signal around 2:05 p.m.

Approximately 125 miles northeast of Hanoi, Ha Long Bay welcomes tens of thousands of tourists each year. Boat cruises are quite well-liked.

Typhoon Yagi’s powerful wind and waves caused 30 boats to sink at boat lock locations in Ha Long Bay in the coastal province of Quang Ninh last year.

At least eighteen passengers were killed when a ferry sank off the well-known Indonesian resort island of Bali earlier this month.

Storm Wipha, the third typhoon to strike the South China Sea this year, is expected to land around Vietnam’s northern coast next week, which is why today’s weather occurred.

Air travel was also affected by storm-related weather.

According to Noi Bai Airport, three outgoing planes were temporarily grounded on Saturday, and nine inbound flights were rerouted to other airports.

On Saturday, the provinces of Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen, and northern Hanoi were also hit by torrential rain.

Strong winds toppled a number of trees in the capital, Hanoi.

Three days of extreme heat, with temperatures in some places reaching 37 degrees Celsius, preceded the storm.

Due to the risk of listeria, more than 100,000 ice cream bars have been recalled in 23 states.

Over 100,000 ice cream bars have been recalled in 23 U.S. states because they might have listeria, a hazardous disease that can make you very sick.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that Rich’s Ice Cream, a Florida-based company, is recalling some frozen desserts in more than 20 states, including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and the Bahamas.

On June 27, 110,292 cases of the frozen snacks were recalled. The FDA moved the recall up to Class II on July 17. This is the second most dangerous level. A Class II recall signifies that the product could cause health problems that are only transient or that can be managed without causing long-term harm.

Up till today, no one has been sick or wounded from eating these ice cream bars. The FDA, on the other hand, claims the recall is still going on.

The recalled items were marketed in single wrappers in 23 U.S. states and the Bahamas.

They include ice cream bars with lot numbers between #24351 and #25156. If you have any, you should throw them away right away.

The states that are affected include: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Some bars were also sent to Nassau, Bahamas.

Listeriosis is a dangerous infection that develops from eating food that has been infected with Listeria monocytogenes. The CDC says it can make you sick in two ways: one that affects your intestines and one that spreads across your body.

Pregnant women, newborns, older folks, and anyone with weak immune systems are the most at danger.

Headaches, fever, confusion, problems walking, and seizures are some of the symptoms. A stiff neck, sore muscles, and weariness are among indicators that commonly appear within two weeks of ingesting the tainted food.