P.M. BRIEFING : Dart Drug Files for Debt Protection

Dart Drug Stores Inc., faced with high debt payments and costs of extensive store renovations, has filed for protection from creditors under the federal Bankruptcy Code.

Company Chairman Sheldon Fantle said the board of directors concluded late Tuesday that the company could not continue to make payments on its debt--much of which was incurred by prior owners who bought the chain from founder Herbert Haft in 1984 for $160 million.

Fantle led a group of investors that took over management of the company in November, 1987. At that time, Dart owed more than $164 million to bondholders and to its bank lenders. It has paid more than $26 million in principal and interest payments on that debt.

Dart operates 69 retail drug stores in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, and five Total-Plus discount stores in the Richmond area. Dart has more than 2,000 employees and had sales of about $170 million in the fiscal year ended in 1989.