# Bartell Drugs

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

## History
### 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. A second store was opened in 1898 in Downtown Seattle at 506 Second Ave. In 1900, George H. Bartell Sr., sold the foundational Jackson Street store. In 1904, George H. Bartell Sr. opened another store at 610 Second Ave. Another location 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. Bartell Sr. handed the reins to his son, George H. Bartell Jr., in 1939. At 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 following years, with only 12 drug stores remaining 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 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, its centennial. One hundred years after being founded, Bartell Drugs finally expanded outside of the Seattle area by opening a Bartell Drug store in Gig Harbor, Pierce County, on the Kitsap Peninsula in 1991. Jean Bartell Barber, the founder's granddaughter, joined the company in 1993.

### 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. As of January 2025, the chain has 40 listed locations, with the University Village location closing its doors on January 23.

## 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.