storewanderer wrote: ↑May 23rd, 2022, 11:48 pm
In other news, the surplus property listing is updated as of 5/5:
https://www.riteaid.com/content/dam/rit ... 220522.pdf
5712 Folsom in Sacramento is on the list- lease does not expire until 2024
599 West Vaipico in Tracy is on the list- lease does not expire until 2027 (...why did this close...?)
Cameron Park is on the list- lease does not expire until 2029 (another real questionable closure)
I think we can shelve my previous theory they are closing as leases expire. Maybe that is the case for some of the stores but certainly not all of them...
As stated earlier in what has become a looooong thread,599 West Valpico in Tracy(Customer World-era build)wasn't exactly well located despite being in a newer and developing area.The now vacant store is on the NWC of Valpico and Macarthur Drive the latter street which doesn't have high vehicle traffic as it is.It should have been logically located further west along Valpico preferably at the Tracy Boulevard intersection which also has Raleys and Walgreens(on separate corners).
There are several still open legacy Payless locations on the list with sub-leases expiring within the next 18 months:Los Banos,Manteca,Pacifica/Fairmont,South Lake Tahoe,and Stockton/North Wilson Way.It would be interesting to see if those locations remain in business when 2024 rolls along.There are also closed stores(mainly legacy Thrifty locations)on the list with dark leases expiring during this time frame:Beverly Hills Bedford,Los Angeles/5575 Wilshire,Sacramento/7900 Florin,Santa Clarita Bouquet Canyon,and Visalia south Mooney.All are recent closures(past 6 months)except for 7900 Florin which closed just over 3 years ago.
An interesting listing I found was land for sale in the Fresno County town of Parlier(never knew it existed),presumably for a planned-but-never-built store.I also see listings for office space in the Kansas suburbs of western Kansas City(Overland Park)as well as in Houston and San Antonio,all in metro areas where RAD has never operated retail pharmacies to this very day.
One of the legacy Payless locations with sub-leases expiring later in the decade is 2805 Bell Road in Auburn whose sublease doesn't expire until New Years Eve 2025.This store(along with the rest of Rock Creek Center opened in the early 1980's)and was remodeled into the Payless Store of the Future layout midway through its Payless incarnation(circa 1990).Upon becoming Rite Aid it received a Rite Choice decor refresh in the early 2000's but kept the SotF layout until getting the Wellness remodel(version 2)some 8 years ago in which the store was partially downsized(which explains the sublease that includes the previous photo area).Even now,the pharmacy remains in the front corner to the left of the entrance.To me what really has hampered this store in recent years is that so much non-core merchandise has been phased out within the past couple years which explains double-wide and/or empty aisles with cardboard cutout filler.In any case,it's been an interesting reversal of fortunes for both Auburn stores since their wellness remodels albeit in opposite directions.The former Thrifty on 420 Grass Valley Highway likely opened in the mid or late 1970's,and who would have thunk that it would get a new lease on life after its extreme makeover.It must be noted that it was one of my store's pharmacists that overheard the unconfirmed/unverified rumor that consolidation of the 2 Auburn stores was being considered but so far not positively decided on.
Aside from this,at this point(due to the lack of recent positive or negative company news within the past 10 days,despite reports on reddit of labor hours being squeezed)either we're either being lulled into a false sense of security by the corporate store closure committee or there could finally truly be a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel.For more reasons than one,I seriously hope it's the latter.
For your life,Thrifty and Payless have got it.