Bartell Drugs

The Bartell Drug Company, commonly known as Bartell Drugs and referred to by locals as simply "Bartell's", is an American chain of pharmacies in the Puget Sound region of Washington state. The company was founded in 1890 in Seattle and grew to primarily serve the surrounding metropolitan area. Bartell's was believed to be the nation's oldest existing family-owned drugstore chain until it was sold to Rite Aid in 2020.

1890 to 1956
Bartell Drugs was founded in 1890 when George H. Bartell Sr. (1868–1956) purchased the Lake Washington Pharmacy at 2711 South Jackson Street in Seattle's Central District. Within eight years a second store was opened in 1898 in Downtown Seattle at 506 Second Ave. Two years later, George H. Bartell Sr., sold the Jackson Street store in 1900. Fourteen years after founding the first store George H. Bartell Sr. opened another store at 610 Second Ave in 1904. His third store was opened four years later in 1908 in front of Pike Place Market. In 1911 the 506 Second Avenue was closed and demolished to make space for the Smith Tower.

As of 1930 there were 15 total stores. George Sr. handed the reins to his son, George H. Bartell Jr, in 1939. By the time of Bartell Sr.'s death in 1956 the Bartell family owned 23 drug stores.



1956 to 1984
The company underwent contraction over the next few years, with only 12 remaining drug stores in 1961, under the founder's grandson George D. Bartell. In 1966, seventy-six years after the company was founded, a 13th drug store was opened outside of King County in Edmonds, Washington. Over the following fourteen years the Bartell family had opened an additional four stores, totaling 17 Bartell Drug stores by 1980.

1990s
Over the following ten years the Bartell family had opened an additional fourteen stores, totaling 31 Bartell Drug stores by the year 1990, Bartell's centennial. One hundred years after being founded, Bartell Drugs finally expanded outside of the King County Seattle area by opening a Bartell Drug store in Gig Harbor, Pierce County, on the Kitsap Peninsula in 1991. Joining the company in 1993 was Jean Bartell Barber, the founder's granddaughter.

2000 and beyond
George D. Bartell, the founder's grandson served as Chairman and held the role of CEO until 2015. Former REI executive Brian Unmacht became the first non-family member CEO in the company's history in April 2015, with Jean Bartell Barber, serving as Vice Chairman and Treasurer. Unmacht, originally hired in January 2015, as President, resigned in March 2017 after two years.

Amazon contracted with Bartell Drugs to be the first drugstore to use same-day Prime Now delivery for its non-pharmecudical goods. In January 2018, Bartell Drugs announced that it had hired a new CEO, Kathi Lentzsch; she was the second CEO in the company's history to be hired from outside of the Bartell family. The company began offering CBD products for sale at its stores in 2018. As of February 2019 there were 68 stores in the Puget Sound region; each location featured its own neighborhood-specific features and products. Lentzsch departed the company in December 2020, after its acquisition by Rite Aid.

Acquisition by Rite Aid
On October 7, 2020, the company announced that it would be sold to Pennsylvania-based Rite Aid for $95 million. At the time of the sale, Bartell Drugs had 69 locations in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties. The acquisition was completed on December 18. By 2023, five locations in Seattle had been closed by Rite Aid, including a flagship store in the Chinatown–International District neighborhood. A sixth Seattle store in Lower Queen Anne, the chain's only 24-hour pharmacy in the city, closed in September 2023.

On October 15, 2023, amid several opioid lawsuits and legal battles, Rite Aid filed a petition under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. By the end of December, 21 Bartell Drugs locations open at the time of the acquisition had closed, including the flagship store on 5th Avenue and five other locations in Downtown Seattle. Since the acquisition, customers have also complained of poor service and unavailable products. , the chain has 41 listed locations.

Legacy and influence
In December 2004 Harvey Danger, an alternative rock band from Seattle, released the EP Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes), which mentions Bartell Drugs in the second verse.