Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

[storewanderer]

Which makes me also wonder about those Craigslist ads... Really starting to think those were a hoax. Dirty trick either by pissed off Reddit types, pissed off landlords, or dishonest recruiters trying to convince people to jump ship. Liquidators would not do any hiring activities unless they had a court order in hand to wind down the stores, and we know they didn't. They do not spend money, period. The only other circumstances would be if a unknown 3rd party was going to bid only to liquidate and they were funding hiring activities from their own pockets... But now knowing leases are accepted I think competitive bids are far less likely to occur. And finally I don't see anyone hiring sign walkers legitimately writing all the details out on an ad. They would be super simplistic because of required confidentiality prior to a final order which we all know has not occurred and is many weeks or even months away. "Hiring sign walkers in LA, call 555-555-1212 if interested. $X to $Y per hour" would be all they'd write. These Craigslist ads are a hoax.

Or, they are just for some other company and have absolutely nothing to do with Rite Aid at all (other than happening to be in areas that Rite Aid also has stores - which I'm sure all those areas have other businesses as well).

Nope. They do not run that specific of an ad prior to a court order specifically because of confidentiality agreements. That's one of the key reasons I believe this is a hoax. Whether they're hired by Rite Aid themselves, their creditors, or a potential hostile buyer, the liquidators run under strict NDA. Same goes for any other job the liquidators might have. This level of disclosure is not normal and thus makes the ad highly suspicious. You should try calling for a job - if they tell you anything specific like "yeah, you're going to be out in front of Rite Aid" then you know it's a hoax because once again they are always under an NDA prior to any court ordered action and would never tell anyone any specific details in advance.

They won't tell you exactly where, but they want a $? sign deposit. Supposedly you get the $? back after you work with them for one week. Basically they don't trust that you will not steal their sign (I suppose I understand... but makes it feel like a scam to "pay to work" you know).

They are continuing to take placements and have placements for many of the locations. You will notice they keep updating lists and some towns are disappearing- those are disappearing because they have placements for those locations.

Someone still thinks this is happening.

Plus there has been no court ordered action. It is complete speculation at this point that they will be holding any signs on March 20 in CA/OR/WA/ID. Someone who is bidding I suspect is cooking this up... the question is who... and when will they go away when it becomes obvious the auction isn't happening and keeps getting delayed...

[ClownLoach]

Or, they are just for some other company and have absolutely nothing to do with Rite Aid at all (other than happening to be in areas that Rite Aid also has stores - which I'm sure all those areas have other businesses as well).

Nope. They do not run that specific of an ad prior to a court order specifically because of confidentiality agreements. That's one of the key reasons I believe this is a hoax. Whether they're hired by Rite Aid themselves, their creditors, or a potential hostile buyer, the liquidators run under strict NDA. Same goes for any other job the liquidators might have. This level of disclosure is not normal and thus makes the ad highly suspicious. You should try calling for a job - if they tell you anything specific like "yeah, you're going to be out in front of Rite Aid" then you know it's a hoax because once again they are always under an NDA prior to any court ordered action and would never tell anyone any specific details in advance.

They won't tell you exactly where, but they want a $? sign deposit. Supposedly you get the $? back after you work with them for one week. Basically they don't trust that you will not steal their sign (I suppose I understand... but makes it feel like a scam to "pay to work" you know).

They are continuing to take placements and have placements for many of the locations. You will notice they keep updating lists and some towns are disappearing- those are disappearing because they have placements for those locations.

Someone still thinks this is happening.

Plus there has been no court ordered action. It is complete speculation at this point that they will be holding any signs on March 20 in CA/OR/WA/ID. Someone who is bidding I suspect is cooking this up... the question is who... and when will they go away when it becomes obvious the auction isn't happening and keeps getting delayed...

I've never heard of it working that way for sign walkers. Paying a deposit up front? This still sounds like a scam to me. Small scale but a scam nonetheless. The liquidators I've worked with, which are all the national ones, have contracts with Labor Ready and a few related firms. When they need sign walkers they are there, guaranteed, the next day. Hence there is no reason to hire them in advance. And as I've said before the entire liquidation business can swing from profit to loss on the simplest and most trivial expenses. They squeeze every last penny they can. Rite Aid is not a major retailer in the sense they do not have a tremendous amount of inventory in the buildings. If liquidated, they would slash payroll to below CVS levels immediately and probably need to bring in additional goods to supplement just to break even. Thus I maintain what I said before, that they are not going to spend one dime in advance of a court order.

So if there is any legitimacy to this, then it is a buyer who would intend to self liquidate without the partnership of any major firm.

And since we know they already have agreements with liquidation firms, that means it isn't the Rite Aid creditors planning to close themselves down.

So this is really a puzzle. Or more likely, a scam.

Could any of these locations possibly be for the closure and liquidation of some locations of JoAnn fabrics? They are imminently filing bankruptcy and expected to close hundreds of stores. Remember that just because they list say 13 locations in Bakersfield that does not necessarily mean 13 physical stores... Just 13 physical spots they want to be located in. Every time JoAnn closes a store that I've seen they self liquidate. Supposedly it's going to be a fast prepackaged bankruptcy with full agreement from creditors taking control and no disputes, in and out in a week... Like filing this weekend with intent of all court actions being next week... And many store closures expected. Wouldn't that place some store liquidations on the calendar beginning.... March 20?

[BillyGr]

Which makes me also wonder about those Craigslist ads... Really starting to think those were a hoax. Dirty trick either by pissed off Reddit types, pissed off landlords, or dishonest recruiters trying to convince people to jump ship. Liquidators would not do any hiring activities unless they had a court order in hand to wind down the stores, and we know they didn't. They do not spend money, period. The only other circumstances would be if a unknown 3rd party was going to bid only to liquidate and they were funding hiring activities from their own pockets... But now knowing leases are accepted I think competitive bids are far less likely to occur. And finally I don't see anyone hiring sign walkers legitimately writing all the details out on an ad. They would be super simplistic because of required confidentiality prior to a final order which we all know has not occurred and is many weeks or even months away. "Hiring sign walkers in LA, call 555-555-1212 if interested. $X to $Y per hour" would be all they'd write. These Craigslist ads are a hoax.

Or, they are just for some other company and have absolutely nothing to do with Rite Aid at all (other than happening to be in areas that Rite Aid also has stores - which I'm sure all those areas have other businesses as well).

Nope. They do not run that specific of an ad prior to a court order specifically because of confidentiality agreements. That's one of the key reasons I believe this is a hoax. Whether they're hired by Rite Aid themselves, their creditors, or a potential hostile buyer, the liquidators run under strict NDA. Same goes for any other job the liquidators might have. This level of disclosure is not normal and thus makes the ad highly suspicious. You should try calling for a job - if they tell you anything specific like "yeah, you're going to be out in front of Rite Aid" then you know it's a hoax because once again they are always under an NDA prior to any court ordered action and would never tell anyone any specific details in advance.

Which is why I said it might have nothing to do with Rite Aid at all!
Not them, not someone bidding for their stores, not a liquidator, nothing at all to do with this company.

When they were first posted, it was suggested that it was one of the tax prep companies, as they might pre-schedule people to hold such signs as advertising as they get closer to the date for filing taxes - nowhere was it ever stated that can't be what they are doing (since it certainly could be), but somehow everyone got stuck on it having to do with one company in bankruptcy for quite some time.

Maybe it is your newer suggestion as well, who knows.

[mbz321]

When they were first posted, it was suggested that it was one of the tax prep companies, as they might pre-schedule people to hold such signs as advertising as they get closer to the date for filing taxes - n

Interesting possibility. I know Liberty Tax services (I still think thats a pretty ironic name for a tax company ) usually has sign wavers. Maybe if someone is bored they can go through that location list and see if their offices are in those towns.

[storewanderer]

Nope. They do not run that specific of an ad prior to a court order specifically because of confidentiality agreements. That's one of the key reasons I believe this is a hoax. Whether they're hired by Rite Aid themselves, their creditors, or a potential hostile buyer, the liquidators run under strict NDA. Same goes for any other job the liquidators might have. This level of disclosure is not normal and thus makes the ad highly suspicious. You should try calling for a job - if they tell you anything specific like "yeah, you're going to be out in front of Rite Aid" then you know it's a hoax because once again they are always under an NDA prior to any court ordered action and would never tell anyone any specific details in advance.

They won't tell you exactly where, but they want a $? sign deposit. Supposedly you get the $? back after you work with them for one week. Basically they don't trust that you will not steal their sign (I suppose I understand... but makes it feel like a scam to "pay to work" you know).

They are continuing to take placements and have placements for many of the locations. You will notice they keep updating lists and some towns are disappearing- those are disappearing because they have placements for those locations.

Someone still thinks this is happening.

Plus there has been no court ordered action. It is complete speculation at this point that they will be holding any signs on March 20 in CA/OR/WA/ID. Someone who is bidding I suspect is cooking this up... the question is who... and when will they go away when it becomes obvious the auction isn't happening and keeps getting delayed...

I've never heard of it working that way for sign walkers. Paying a deposit up front? This still sounds like a scam to me. Small scale but a scam nonetheless. The liquidators I've worked with, which are all the national ones, have contracts with Labor Ready and a few related firms. When they need sign walkers they are there, guaranteed, the next day. Hence there is no reason to hire them in advance. And as I've said before the entire liquidation business can swing from profit to loss on the simplest and most trivial expenses. They squeeze every last penny they can. Rite Aid is not a major retailer in the sense they do not have a tremendous amount of inventory in the buildings. If liquidated, they would slash payroll to below CVS levels immediately and probably need to bring in additional goods to supplement just to break even. Thus I maintain what I said before, that they are not going to spend one dime in advance of a court order.

So if there is any legitimacy to this, then it is a buyer who would intend to self liquidate without the partnership of any major firm.

And since we know they already have agreements with liquidation firms, that means it isn't the Rite Aid creditors planning to close themselves down.

So this is really a puzzle. Or more likely, a scam.

Could any of these locations possibly be for the closure and liquidation of some locations of JoAnn fabrics? They are imminently filing bankruptcy and expected to close hundreds of stores. Remember that just because they list say 13 locations in Bakersfield that does not necessarily mean 13 physical stores... Just 13 physical spots they want to be located in. Every time JoAnn closes a store that I've seen they self liquidate. Supposedly it's going to be a fast prepackaged bankruptcy with full agreement from creditors taking control and no disputes, in and out in a week... Like filing this weekend with intent of all court actions being next week... And many store closures expected. Wouldn't that place some store liquidations on the calendar beginning.... March 20?

.

I know- the deposit thing is very shady to me. If I were a potential applicant, I would view it as a scam being told I had to pay a sign deposit.

The only thing is some of these locations for the sign walkers. Alturas, Farmersville, Mt. Shasta, Quincy, Palo Cedro, Olivehurst, Magalia- there is just almost no other chain retail in these towns besides Rite Aid and in some cases a grocer. There is no Jo Ann anywhere near...

March 20 is fast approaching though...

[storewanderer]

There is now a list of 210 more stores pre-approved closing posted to the docket 2/21, which seems to largely match the list posted here last week. But I may have missed some things.

Also they have subsequent docket postings that appear to resolve some of these issues. Confusing.

And I guess I missed it before is I see a store in Auburn listed on Bell Road. Great. They already closed the other store in Auburn (they owned the real estate and sold it). This Bell Road thing never seems to have much going on so this isn't all that surprising to me. They received inventory from multiple closed stores and employees from multiple closed stores. Some who were in multiple closed stores in recent months. What a complete mess. This is getting really old.

Also see Sacramento J Street listed, Antelope, Sacramento Florin, Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova... this is basically an exit from Sacramento if they close all these.

They'll still have a few stores left but so few... and some of what will be left isn't overly busy stores either.

Also 10 more bay area store closures... again not going to be much left especially between San Jose and San Francisco, but that there was much to begin with but I think these planned closures will take out what little is left.

[HCal]

I replied to an ad and spoke to a recruiter. They did not give the name of the retailer but from the description, it can't be anyone other than Rite Aid. The ads were posted by a company called "Frontline Media Solutions". I couldn't determine who has contracted them, but the person I spoke to said the whole chain WILL be liquidated as if it is a done deal. I suppose saying that is necessary in order to attract workers. If they say it's up in the air, people won't want to sign up.

[ClownLoach]

I replied to an ad and spoke to a recruiter. They did not give the name of the retailer but from the description, it can't be anyone other than Rite Aid. The ads were posted by a company called "Frontline Media Solutions". I couldn't determine who has contracted them, but the person I spoke to said the whole chain WILL be liquidated as if it is a done deal. I suppose saying that is necessary in order to attract workers. If they say it's up in the air, people won't want to sign up.

And... If that was the case they would NOT tell you because they would be under an NDA which would also be court ordered. Federal Court is not to be played with. Break an NDA for a federal bankruptcy court and they definitely will line up a cell for you to spend quality time in once they've also given you a lifetime's income worth of fines and penalties.

Once again this sounds like a company hired for self liquidation, not a professional. Probably something that they are required to do for the court to demonstrate their ability to execute if required.

And it probably amounts to the list we were scrutinizing which we know now has already lost some locations that got their leases confirmed. Not the whole chain. Or as I said before, they were hired by either CVS or Walgreens who probably intend to make bids to buy out and then close out the chain. Not that they would be successful in such an attempt to close it.

At this point they've accepted so many new leases, at full price terminations, that I am not sure a total liquidation would even cover those severance costs and the original creditors would be left with nothing either.

[reymann]

Such a scumbag move by likely CVS with those sign walker ads. I'm now just waiting to see the final number of closures after the leases are renegotiated. Closing stores on the central coast is a bit of a concern since that is one of their strongest markets.

[storewanderer]

I replied to an ad and spoke to a recruiter. They did not give the name of the retailer but from the description, it can't be anyone other than Rite Aid. The ads were posted by a company called "Frontline Media Solutions". I couldn't determine who has contracted them, but the person I spoke to said the whole chain WILL be liquidated as if it is a done deal. I suppose saying that is necessary in order to attract workers. If they say it's up in the air, people won't want to sign up.

I am wondering if there are "groups" of creditors and the different members of said groups are pushing for different angles.

I had a very bad feeling when they retained the liquidators in late January.. after it felt like store closures should be wrapping up... that something bigger was on the table. Whether or not it actually happens - remains to be seen.

The "line" Rite Aid stores were being told by the district manager/HR who came to tell them the stores were closing was that Rite Aid wasn't picking what stores to close, the creditors/bankers were picking what stores to close. So to that point the real estate team may be doing everything it can to renegotiate leases, etc., but if the creditors make a decision to go a different direction, it can override whatever the real estate team accomplished. I also suspect the ability to continue/remain in certain markets will be dependent on what exact stores get the renegotiated leases. What will market performance look like when all the dust settles, for instance... that is up in the air as random closures continue.

For instance that store closing in San Diego on Garnet- 24 hour store- BUSY store. I am sure that store made a lot of money. Whatever profits that store made, how many nearby lower volume/lower profit stores did that subsidize? How will the market look after that. How many customers from there will transition to other Rite Aid locations and maybe help some of those perform better to help them? A lot of unknowns. Very fluid situation.