CVS Abruptly Closes 2 Stores in San Francisco

[Alpha8472]

CVS closed 2 stores without warning in San Francisco, California. A crude paper sign was posted in the window.

When CVS took over Long's drugs just over 10 years ago, there was only 1 CVS in San Francisco for some time. There were no Rite Aids as Walgreens had bought those SF stores.

Now CVS is looking to flee the city. There were problems at these stores. Shelves were empty as if everything had been shoplifted. Many items were locked up. Walgreens is very busy and successful in this city. They keep things locked up but have employees who restock often.

One of the stores was the scene of a stabbing. A shoplifter stabbed a police officer and the suspect was shot dead. This busy area is filled with drug addicts and homeless people.

[storewanderer]

Probably better to make a clean break in some cases; pay the employees the 60 days or 90 days or whatever it is they are required to pay them, and be done with it. They also have pharmacies in those Target small format stores in San Francisco. So CVS is still present in that city but Walgreens is the clear leader and always will be, in San Francisco. I don't expect CVS to do a 100% exit from San Francisco like Rite Aid did, but they have made some real estate mistakes, just to "be present" - just like Rite Aid did. Granted, CVS has much deeper pockets than Rite Aid ever had.

[Brian Lutz]

Only semi-related to this, but just a couple of days ago I was down in the Bay Area for work, and stayed in a hotel near a really unusual looking CVS on El Camino Real in San Carlos:

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.5117578 ... a=!3m1!1e3

This looks like it was some sort of a grocery store location previously (not familiar with NorCal grocers but I suppose it could have been a Lucky) and they have far more space than they need, which means that about 1/3 of the interior space is blocked off and either left vacant or used for storage, with only a few high shelves blocking it off. On top of that, the parking lot is way too large for the size of the store they're running. I suppose something like this might make sense in a relatively low-rent area, but this is an area where an 800 square foot house can go for $1.3 million, which makes me wonder just how a place like that would make any money. My guess is that the owner of the property is giving them a deal on the lease to keep the place occupied until some developer buys it, knocks it down and turns it into condos.

[J-Man]

Looks to me like a typical Longs Drugs. So I'm assuming that was its previous identity, and was part of the CVS acquisition of that chain.

[storewanderer]

Typical old Longs Store. It has been Longs since the early 80's. Maybe it was a grocer before Longs but if so it was short lived as one.

It is interesting it has two loading docks. It almost looks like a Safeway building of that era...

What you describe is mostly typical for CVS in former Longs Stores. Depressing, dead of customers, undermerchandised, too big of a parking lot. One thing you describe that I've never seen before is space blocked off by shelves.

Most of the former old Longs I've been to have low height shelves, tons of facings of things like kleenex, bottled water, cotton balls, and paper towels, and a lot of open space between aisles. But the full sales floor is still open to customers.

The newer Longs that were in the 18,000 square foot range don't have most of these traits.

[Alpha8472]

This is a classic Longs Drugs. There was one very much like this one attached to a Mervyn's in Pleasant Hill, California. Classic Longs Drugs stores had 2 sets of doors with old fashioned pressure sensing pad automatic doors. The hand railing at the doors is also distinctive as are the large windows. Longs Drugs stores were very much like small supermarkets. They sold a huge selection of private label canned goods and food. They were much more than just drugstores. Some even had garden departments and all sold plants in front.

The former flagship Longs Drugs in downtown Walnut Creek, California was supposed to be destroyed to make way for expensive condos a few years ago. The plans apparently are on hold. The landlord decided instead let CVS stay and recruited new restaurants to fill the empty spaces.

This location is very expensive real estate, but the need for condos has taken a turn for the worse. The city has way too many new condos that are unsold.

CVS remodeled the former Longs Drugs flagship into the prototype black and white decor as a test a few years ago. The decor was deemed a hit, so all of the California CVS stores have been getting the new decor.

[Super S]

Typical old Longs Store. It has been Longs since the early 80's. Maybe it was a grocer before Longs but if so it was short lived as one.

It is interesting it has two loading docks. It almost looks like a Safeway building of that era...

What you describe is mostly typical for CVS in former Longs Stores. Depressing, dead of customers, undermerchandised, too big of a parking lot. One thing you describe that I've never seen before is space blocked off by shelves.

Most of the former old Longs I've been to have low height shelves, tons of facings of things like kleenex, bottled water, cotton balls, and paper towels, and a lot of open space between aisles. But the full sales floor is still open to customers.

The newer Longs that were in the 18,000 square foot range don't have most of these traits.

There were a lot of similarities in some of the former PayLess Drug locations that Rite Aid took over. Some of those older stores were huge and carried things a typical Rite Aid does not such as sporting goods, garden centers, full apparel departments in some stores, and had larger selections of automotive, hardware, crafts, and other items. I have seen up to 1/3 of a large older PayLess blocked off by shelves, but will say that Rite Aid has been shrinking some of these stores in recent remodels (some which Rite Aid had never remodeled) and installing real walls. I am not sure if this took place at any of the Thrifty stores in California. The chains like Longs, Thrifty, and PayLess tended to have larger stores as they often served as more of a general merchandise store in smaller towns and other areas (throughout the west, not just California) where the big discount stores did not have locations.