Albertsons to buy (what's left of) RiteAid

[rwsandiego]

In the realm of legacy branding, with Rite-Aid being sold in chunks, which buyer gets rights to Thrifty, anyways? I don't see if that's actually been answered yet. I honestly doubt the RA banner itself will last to the end of the decade, though. I don't see a lot of brand loyalty towards it.

Given Walgreens claims to have invented malted milk and having marketed their own ice cream for years and years, I don't see them keeping Thrifty ice cream.

[storewanderer]

The ice cream counter at Rite Aid is SO MUCH MORE now in many remodeled locations. This location, which my friend works at, did not have an ice cream counter prior to the remodel (which is fantastic). This is one of the highest grossing stores in the entire Rite Aid chain (it's in downtown Beverly Hills). Watch the video of their "Fresh Day Café" in store which includes a self-serve frozen yogurt station (with add your own toppings), coffee & other drinks, quick bites as well as ice cream.
https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/rite-ai ... 0It8Rsv8Rg

The store in Park City, UT also had this Fresh Day Cafe concept (it was put there for the olympics). Of course, that store has been sold to Walgreens. That was also the only store in Utah I saw any Thrifty Ice Cream. Funny they ran a truck just to serve ice cream to that one store... there is also an odd Rite Aid up in Hillsboro, OR that had Thrifty Ice Cream in the freezers but again I never saw that at any other Rite Aids in Oregon.

Every management that has been at Rite Aid has expanded the ice cream counter program; even Martin Grass was installing ice cream counters in remodels of Payless Stores that previously did not have that offering. At this point, few stores in California lack the ice cream counter.

I think the Rite Aid name has some value in California. Somehow, despite their very significant missteps in the 90's, what happened to Sav-On and Longs by way of CVS seemed to make people forget how bad Rite Aid was, because by the time CVS came on the scene and cut mix/increased prices at Sav-On, and outright destroyed Longs, suddenly Rite Aid actually seemed to be a better alternative, and Rite Aid had corrected some (many) of its previous mistakes by that time also. I think the Rite Aid name has little to no value in places like Texas, the Intermountain States, and in the South and probably even a little questionable in the Pacific Northwest.

[pseudo3d]

I think, given where the stores overlap, that Albertsons should pull Rite Aid out of Michigan, Ohio, and western Pennsylvania, because there's no stores there or planned to be, plus it would reduce debt.

[Alpha8472]

A Starbucks Cafe inside of Rite Aid would really bring in the customers. Longs Drugs used to have Seattle's Best Coffee Cafes in some of their stores. They served ice cream and coffee drinks. Starbucks owns Seattle's Best Coffee. I really liked their cafes. CVS got rid of those cafes, and many customers were upset.

[babs]

Sorry to be the negative nelly here but this transaction is all about giving Cerberus an exit strategy. They are using Rite Aid to back door an IPO. After everything is said and done this organization will be so debt ridden that an eventually ride in bankruptcy court is enviable. While many of your have presented great ways to the two organizations to work together, the reality will be tons of store closures.

[wnetmacman]

i expect albertsons to retain thrifty ice cream and it could likely replace lucerne ice cream and maybe they tinker with the idea of thrifty ice cream by the scoop at albertsons/safeway stores in future remodels and new builds.

I hate to tell you, but the Thrifty name holds no value outside California and a few other West Coast states. Now if they'd bring the old K&B ice cream back in Louisiana, that would be great. I don't see it as a full rollout for the whole chain, as Rite Aid was smart enough to know they couldn't do that.

[wnetmacman]

Sorry to be the negative nelly here but this transaction is all about giving Cerberus an exit strategy. They are using Rite Aid to back door an IPO. After everything is said and done this organization will be so debt ridden that an eventually ride in bankruptcy court is enviable. While many of your have presented great ways to the two organizations to work together, the reality will be tons of store closures.

But the good thing about an IPO is that they will raise some cash to pay this off. It's not just that they'd have to protect that money, it's to raise funds to pay off bills.

I once worked for a Cerberus-owned company. Cerberus just wants their money back. That's their only strategy, and they will replace management fast if they feel it isn't going to happen.

[mbz321]

I hate to tell you, but the Thrifty name holds no value outside California and a few other West Coast states. Now if they'd bring the old K&B ice cream back in Louisiana, that would be great. I don't see it as a full rollout for the whole chain, as Rite Aid was smart enough to know they couldn't do that.

The only problem with that is, I think most, if not all Rite Aid stores in Louisiana and surrounding states are locations that went to Walgreens.

[arizonaguy]

Any chance that some of the larger stores (especially in California) become converted to supermarkets?

I know of some Rite Aid stores in California that are as large, if not larger, than nearby Safeway stores.

[babs]

Sorry to be the negative nelly here but this transaction is all about giving Cerberus an exit strategy. They are using Rite Aid to back door an IPO. After everything is said and done this organization will be so debt ridden that an eventually ride in bankruptcy court is enviable. While many of your have presented great ways to the two organizations to work together, the reality will be tons of store closures.

But the good thing about an IPO is that they will raise some cash to pay this off. It's not just that they'd have to protect that money, it's to raise funds to pay off bills.

I once worked for a Cerberus-owned company. Cerberus just wants their money back. That's their only strategy, and they will replace management fast if they feel it isn't going to happen.

Sorry, all the IPO proceeds will go to Cerberus. They will also suck the cash out. Albertsons will have to restructure or find other ways to fix their cash situation. Most retailers that have shut down over the years have shut down to massive debt. A slight decrease in cash flow reduces their ability to make debt payments.