Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

[SamSpade]

12 more stores closing in today's court docket.

Downtown Portland. Read the Google reviews on that store recently. YIKES.

That store is in the Pearl District. It should be a cash cow for them. It's a block or two away from being in an ideal location but there are few real competitors in an area that continues to add population. But yes, they do have to deal with the homeless and that probably scares away customers.

I was about to add the downtown store has been closed a long time. Thanks for clarifying, Babs. Sorry to hear the Pearl store is closing only because that creates a large foot traffic vacancy between the Safeway and. . . Whole Foods/CVS?

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Off Topic

I think this store was featured recently in discussions about hand count collection of bottle returns. Unfortunately for Rite Aid it was just large enough to have to take everything, rather than only the sizes and types they sell. With the downtown Target closing, I believe a lot of the 'bottle trade' moved here. I think Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are still hand counting as well (in the city core).

[storewanderer]

12 more stores closing in today's court docket.

Downtown Portland. Read the Google reviews on that store recently. YIKES.

That store is in the Pearl District. It should be a cash cow for them. It's a block or two away from being in an ideal location but there are few real competitors in an area that continues to add population. But yes, they do have to deal with the homeless and that probably scares away customers.

I was about to add the downtown store has been closed a long time. Thanks for clarifying, Babs. Sorry to hear the Pearl store is closing only because that creates a large foot traffic vacancy between the Safeway and. . . Whole Foods/CVS?

► Show Spoiler

Off Topic

I think this store was featured recently in discussions about hand count collection of bottle returns. Unfortunately for Rite Aid it was just large enough to have to take everything, rather than only the sizes and types they sell. With the downtown Target closing, I believe a lot of the 'bottle trade' moved here. I think Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are still hand counting as well (in the city core).

This Pearl store sounds like a disaster at the present time based on the reviews. One review noted they keep the entry door locked and the security decides who they will and won't let in. What a mess. The other strange thing is if you go back to the reviews 3-4+ years ago they are mostly fine (or negative reviews are just service related). So it appears the issues with this store's safety are a fairly recent development.

[norcalriteaidclerk]

12 more stores closing in today's court docket.

4 CA Stores: Livermore, Studio City (was a 24 hour store until recently), Westminster, Hemet.

Downtown Portland. Read the Google reviews on that store recently. YIKES.

Current Rite Aid store count excluding Bartell sits at 1,787 today.

Westminster and Hemet likely were both super high shrink. That Westminster location is tough and I'm surprised Albertsons hasn't closed next door. The Walgreens across the street was closed due to shrink (I know that for certain). Hemet is just plain bad news and usually shrink central at any retailer there. The Harbor Freight Tools is pretty much all pull tickets on peg hooks with all the tools locked up behind the desk (I was told this by a relative that went there a couple weeks ago and was shocked by the security levels).

That takes Rite Aid completely out of Livermore and Hemet. There were previous closures in both. The Livermore (Payless) unit that is closing is in a pretty slow shopping center so I am not overly surprised it is closing. This is bad because it leaves Rite Aid with 1 store in the Livermore/Dublin/Pleasanton/San Ramon area which is pretty pathetic. That 1 store remaining in Pleasanton (Thrifty) is a very nice store inside but looks pretty dire on the outside and is in a shopping center with a very slow grocery anchor but decent traffic for other stuff so maybe it is safe.

Studio City maybe Veteran+ can weigh in on.

Looking at Hemet I see a RA1 building with a Wellness interior but the ceiling is the Customer World ceiling. So I am wondering if Hemet opened with Customer World or was a RA1 remodeled into Customer World prototype including layout (can't think of ever seeing that happen).

I think that Harbor Freight in Hemet is a relocation of an older/smaller store.

The Westminster Albertsons still had the Supervalu PFH interior as of last spring. It has traffic... I think it serves a purpose in the area.

I do have to wonder how the Albertsons turned Ralph's turned (relocated)nob hill(in the same center as that Livermore payless)is performing.The San Ramon valley also has a former thrifty in Alamo.

That now-closing west hemet location(a relocation of a former thrifty nearby)appears to have been planned as an ra-1 based on architecture but obviously opened as one of the earliest customer world prototype units out West(other such examples being Livermore vasco,Sacramento Fulton,and the lone remaining location in la Habra)and was among the few such units to have received a wellness remodel.The San Jacinto valley will still have a customer world unit in the north side of its namesake town(an unremodeled ra-1 on the south side of town was lost in the pre-bankruptcy prelude in early September as was the east hemet location which was also a customer world unit which itself was a thrifty relocation).

[Alpha8472]

That Nob Hill is a ghost town at night. I saw perhaps 1 customer when I visited. Perhaps the rent is low.

Nob Hill stores often do very low volume and still stay open.

[norcalriteaidclerk]

I must note(in case I forgot in earlier posts)that when the Sunrise Village legacy Thrifty closure was announced,chunks of merchandise were packed and shipped off in phases:before the closing sale commenced unsold Halloween candy was shipped off to Roseville square with most cosmetics shipped out to Quincy and/or Folsom(at least one of those three stores also received our Christmas merchandise as well).Once officially closed all remaining merchandise was shipped off to South lake Tahoe(definitely alcohol and household paper,how ironic they would suffer that same fate a month later)as well as the two Chico locations.

Though southern California has a higher percentage of extended hours locations(including those open 24 hours), even those locations haven't been immune to closure in recent years,and I'm not strictly talking about Woodland Hills:the Mar Vista location(4046 centinela in Culver City but using a Los Angeles ZIP code)was open 7am-11pm daily with a pharmacy which on weekdays was open 8am-10pm.The closing studio City location also is open until 11pm daily.Also a number of socal locations that have closed in recent years(Palm springs downtown, Long Beach Bixby knolls, Chino,and Downey)were once open 24 hours at least on the front end side at some point in their operational existence.

I must note that the one who posted the Castro Valley tribute video on YouTube fittingly used a traditional 8mm video camera and incorporated classic Payless jingles into the finished/posted product.

[storewanderer]

I don't think that Nob Hill in Livermore is doing much business at all. Ralphs wasn't doing much business either. That was a weird situation when Raleys pulled out of Las Vegas they somehow brokered to get that Livermore Ralphs (otherwise the Livermore Nob Hill was going to just be closing, and they wanted to stay in Livermore). I don't really know why they wanted that Livermore Ralphs so badly, but at least it is still open. It is also in great condition considering it has been over 20 years since Ralphs did the remodel to the store. Nob Hill spent little money other than modifying produce and putting in cashier unload checkstands.

Livermore is just a place where everyone shops Safeway or Trader Joe's. Other stores do not do well in Livermore. Lucky does horribly there, I am surprised they are still open. I think they may do even worse than Nob Hill.

[norcalriteaidclerk]

I don't think that Nob Hill in Livermore is doing much business at all. Ralphs wasn't doing much business either. That was a weird situation when Raleys pulled out of Las Vegas they somehow brokered to get that Livermore Ralphs (otherwise the Livermore Nob Hill was going to just be closing, and they wanted to stay in Livermore). I don't really know why they wanted that Livermore Ralphs so badly, but at least it is still open. It is also in great condition considering it has been over 20 years since Ralphs did the remodel to the store. Nob Hill spent little money other than modifying produce and putting in cashier unload checkstands.

Livermore is just a place where everyone shops Safeway or Trader Joe's. Other stores do not do well in Livermore. Lucky does
horribly there, I am surprised they are still open. I think they may do even worse than Nob Hill.

The previous Livermore nob Hill was a smaller and older location that likely lacked perimeter service departments.

Back to RAD,even go forward locations have not received new magazines in the roughly three months since Chapter 11,and the select locations that offer Blue rhino propane (both my current and previous locations)haven't received new stock in months either.It also appears that some suppliers(including one unidentified oral care specific company)have cut off supplying the distribution centers with product.

Back to the document containing the assets and liabilities of in name subsidiary Thrifty Payless Inc,the leaseholder for 4300 elverta(more likely than not among the 1500-1750 go-forward locations including Bartell upon emerging from bankruptcy)is based in Southern California.

https://restructuring.ra.kroll.com/Rite ... w==&id2=-1

Most realistically,I believe the dive stores in and around Sacramento are basically gone at this point,all remaining locations have decor no earlier than customer world with most having either version of the wellness format.

[storewanderer]

The previous Livermore nob Hill was a smaller and older location that likely lacked perimeter service departments.

Back to RAD,even go forward locations have not received new magazines in the roughly three months since Chapter 11,and the select locations that offer Blue rhino propane (both my current and previous locations)haven't received new stock in months either.It also appears that some suppliers(including one unidentified oral care specific company)have cut off supplying the distribution centers with product.

Back to the document containing the assets and liabilities of in name subsidiary Thrifty Payless Inc,the leaseholder for 4300 elverta(more likely than not among the 1500-1750 go-forward locations including Bartell upon emerging from bankruptcy)is based in Southern California.

https://restructuring.ra.kroll.com/Rite ... w==&id2=-1

Most realistically,I believe the dive stores in and around Sacramento are basically gone at this point,all remaining locations have decor no earlier than customer world with most having either version of the wellness format.

At this point based on what happened the past few weeks, the only other location I am questioning around Sacramento is Norwood. I just don't like the vibe of that shopping center, the store has foot traffic. Bell Road in Auburn also confuses me as that is a very dead store, but they made a decision and seem to like that store, so we will see what happens there and how much pharmacy business from the closed store moves there and doesn't deviate to the Walgreens or CVS "between it" and the store Rite Aid closed. That is a better location than the other store was, I would have kept both open, then again there are a lot of stores they closed I would have kept open... I was interested how they made the decision to move the Auburn files to the other Rite Aid but it appears the Placerville files got sold to CVS rather than moved to the staying open Placerville Rite Aid. I am hoping that other Placerville store is safe. That has been a busy store over the years.

That link has some interesting info:
1. The only still open Rite Aid from the Longs/Rite Aid swap involving Reno and OR/WA is the Rite Aid on 9th in Yakima, WA. This had a Drug Emporium interior for a number of years but eventually got a nice Wellness remodel.

[norcalriteaidclerk]

The previous Livermore nob Hill was a smaller and older location that likely lacked perimeter service departments.

Back to RAD,even go forward locations have not received new magazines in the roughly three months since Chapter 11,and the select locations that offer Blue rhino propane (both my current and previous locations)haven't received new stock in months either.It also appears that some suppliers(including one unidentified oral care specific company)have cut off supplying the distribution centers with product.

Back to the document containing the assets and liabilities of in name subsidiary Thrifty Payless Inc,the leaseholder for 4300 elverta(more likely than not among the 1500-1750 go-forward locations including Bartell upon emerging from bankruptcy)is based in Southern California.

https://restructuring.ra.kroll.com/Rite ... w==&id2=-1

Most realistically,I believe the dive stores in and around Sacramento are basically gone at this point,all remaining locations have decor no earlier than customer world with most having either version of the wellness format.

At this point based on what happened the past few weeks, the only other location I am questioning around Sacramento is Norwood. I just don't like the vibe of that shopping center, the store has foot traffic. Bell Road in Auburn also confuses me as that is a very dead store, but they made a decision and seem to like that store, so we will see what happens there and how much pharmacy business from the closed store moves there and doesn't deviate to the Walgreens or CVS "between it" and the store Rite Aid closed. That is a better location than the other store was, I would have kept both open, then again there are a lot of stores they closed I would have kept open... I was interested how they made the decision to move the Auburn files to the other Rite Aid but it appears the Placerville files got sold to CVS rather than moved to the staying open Placerville Rite Aid. I am hoping that other Placerville store is safe. That has been a busy store over the years.

That link has some interesting info:
1. The only still open Rite Aid from the Longs/Rite Aid swap involving Reno and OR/WA is the Rite Aid on 9th in Yakima, WA. This had a Drug Emporium interior for a number of years but eventually got a nice Wellness remodel.

The one remaining location in Aloha, Oregon(received a customer world remodel almost as soon as it was acquired)was also acquired in that same swap with Long's.The location that closed in that same town in late 2022 was a former Payless which may or may not have been a pay-n-save before that.

The Norwood store,yes,is in what has long been a challenging neighborhood.However is does serve a purpose being the only pharmacy of any type(chain/supermarket/indie)left in North Sacramento/del Paso Heights as a whole(it has even outlasted a short-lived Walgreens at that same intersection)with both drugstores at the del Paso/El Camino intersection having closed in less than a decade.

I do wonder about the remaining California locations that have ra-1 decor(a reddit post describing such store appears to have been deleted/removed),the closest example being an unremodeled ra-1 on grantline in Tracy which is the last remaining location there.However the King City location(former Payless and one of the few remaining California locations not to have a Thrifty ice cream counter)does serve a purpose itself in a small town where the only pharmacy competition comes from a Safeway in that same center as well as at least one independent.

I must also note that the Tustin location(630 East 1st) whose closure was announced a couple rounds ago has yet to turn off vaccine appointments.

[storewanderer]

The one remaining location in Aloha, Oregon(received a customer world remodel almost as soon as it was acquired)was also acquired in that same swap with Long's.The location that closed in that same town in late 2022 was a former Payless which may or may not have been a pay-n-save before that.

The Norwood store,yes,is in what has long been a challenging neighborhood.However is does serve a purpose being the only pharmacy of any type(chain/supermarket/indie)left in North Sacramento/del Paso Heights as a whole(it has even outlasted a short-lived Walgreens at that same intersection)with both drugstores at the del Paso/El Camino intersection having closed in less than a decade.

I do wonder about the remaining California locations that have ra-1 decor(a reddit post describing such store appears to have been deleted/removed),the closest example being an unremodeled ra-1 on grantline in Tracy which is the last remaining location there.However the King City location(former Payless and one of the few remaining California locations not to have a Thrifty ice cream counter)does serve a purpose itself in a small town where the only pharmacy competition comes from a Safeway in that same center as well as at least one independent.

I must also note that the Tustin location(630 East 1st) whose closure was announced a couple rounds ago has yet to turn off vaccine appointments.

I forgot Aloha. That is also a former Drug Emporium. I wonder if Longs had remodeled it or it still had the Drug Emporium interior as Yakima did.

I haven't been on Norwood since that Walgreens closed. I see it is now a shoe store. That was a really dumb location decision for Walgreens. So it opened around 2014 and closed by 2019. The access is not good, it is on the wrong side of the street, entry driveway for an "on the way home" going north on Norwood customer is terrible.

The Northgate center where FoodsCo is was supposed to get a freestanding Sav-On but Albertsons canceled that plan back in 2001 or so. If that had opened I expect it would still be open today as a CVS as that is a very busy FoodsCo and a viable shopping center in general. I do not recall if the Kmart at that intersection had a pharmacy (I think it did).

I get the feeling the closure decisions are not based on decor. I'm not sure what they are based on, all of the decor was left behind in Gardnerville. It is a very sad sight. I haven't gone to look at what has come of any of the closed Tahoe locations yet.