Rite Aid relocating hq - to Philadelphia

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Rite Aid relocating hq - to Philadelphia

Post by SamSpade »

https://whyy.org/articles/rite-aid-movi ... ladelphia/
There are certainly a lot of them concentrated there, I remember on my visit.

Also, I'm sure most "PennLive" and "WHYY" listeners/readers were scratching their heads at the mention of Bartell Drugs, but it is interesting it was specifically highlighted in the piece as a separate brand, like Elixir or Health Dialog.
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Re: Rite Aid relocating hq - to Philadelphia

Post by storewanderer »

The space is going to be very small and they are moving to a 100% remote work set up for headquarters workers. They will still have a few spaces scattered around, this will be one of those. The argument for getting this space in Philadelphia was to make it easier for people who are remote to come there at points in time for meetings, etc. whereas it is not quite as easy to get to Camp Hill or Harrisburg.

I find it interesting they made this announcement now, vs., say, six months ago or even a year ago as some other companies did. I think in some cases the longer COVID continues, the more things are being pushed out of offices whether everyone agrees with it or not.

The mention of Bartell was promising.
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Re: Rite Aid relocating hq - to Philadelphia

Post by Romr123 »

That makes a great deal of sense--when I was at BellSouth in the late 90s (after the Olympics) they were setting up these types of remote collaboration spaces at the ends of the MARTA system. Soup up the regional offices and you've just expanded your ability to appeal to remote workers. You could see one in PNW (Bartell), one in Bay Area, one in LA, one in Michigan, maybe one in Albany, one in NYC, one in Harrisburg, the one in Phila, and one in Cleveland/Akron and you're set.
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Re: Rite Aid relocating hq - to Philadelphia

Post by BillyGr »

Romr123 wrote: September 20th, 2021, 8:32 am That makes a great deal of sense--when I was at BellSouth in the late 90s (after the Olympics) they were setting up these types of remote collaboration spaces at the ends of the MARTA system. Soup up the regional offices and you've just expanded your ability to appeal to remote workers. You could see one in PNW (Bartell), one in Bay Area, one in LA, one in Michigan, maybe one in Albany, one in NYC, one in Harrisburg, the one in Phila, and one in Cleveland/Akron and you're set.
Assuming you meant NY with Albany? Not sure there would be much point for one there, as they left only a small scattering of stores in most of NY State outside the NYC area (likely since Walgreens had a much larger presence there having bought Duane Reade previously and it would have created too much of a concentration as I don't remember seeing many CVS locations either in the city proper).

Having actually looked at the link, I guess that spot makes more sense - would be easier to access than in the main parts of the city, particularly for someone driving there (thinking a Navy Yard would have space for parking that isn't available as easily in the city, and Philly has somewhat less of a transport system than many major cities in the east do).
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Re: Rite Aid relocating hq - to Philadelphia

Post by Romr123 »

Albany meaning to cover "upstate NY/New England" as opposed to NYC stores (far different operations, doubtless)...
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Re: Rite Aid relocating hq - to Philadelphia

Post by BillyGr »

Romr123 wrote: September 21st, 2021, 7:59 pm Albany meaning to cover "upstate NY/New England" as opposed to NYC stores (far different operations, doubtless)...
I guess that could work, though they only left 34 Stores in CT, 10 in MA and 6 in VT, with the big number (60) in NH. NY has over 300, but most are closer to the city (for instance, they left two in Albany, I think 2 in Rensselaer County, a couple in Saratoga County and maybe a couple others scattered around the area) - it looked like some towns closer to Buffalo also, but overall still a big physical area to work with without many stores grouped any longer.
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Re: Rite Aid relocating hq - to Philadelphia

Post by storewanderer »

Rite Aid is also rather weak in the San Francisco Bay Area with low store count and absent from a lot of spots. I think they have a better concentration in SoCal and the rural parts of the state. They aren't out of the bay area, but they seem to keep inching closer and closer to being out, one store closure at a time.

Rite Aid has opened a fair number of straight up (not relocation) new stores elsewhere in NorCal in the past decade. Around Sacramento multiple some of which have already closed, Magalia, Rio Linda, maybe one new one down around Mountain View or Sunnyvale, Olivehurst...
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Re: Rite Aid relocating hq - to Philadelphia

Post by norcalriteaidclerk »

The NorCal hub office could logically be located in the Central Valley.Unlike the multi-county Bay Area which is down to maybe a couple dozen locations(stronger in San Jose and Marin County while more scattered in the East Bay and the Peninsula,the only Bay Area 'new' builds that have occurred are all relocations unless you count the short-lived Decoto store in Fremont)including a some never remodeled out of their Thrifty or PayLess decors,Sacramento still has a strong concentration even after some closures which eliminated the remaining 'dive' stores in the area(all remaining locations have at least 'Rite Choice' decor though most have either Customer World or either of 2 'Wellness' decor packages).Fresno and Bakersfield have strong concentrations as well.The northern San Joaquin valley looks weak on paper due to low store counts in Stockton(three remain after the 7932 North El Dorado closure a decade ago)and Modesto(only McHenry and Oakdale remain in the city proper with the Pelandale closure a couple years back though there is still a location in neighboring Ceres).Not to mention that the Heyward Donigan regime is more committed to shoring up the remaining store base after the scores of closures and divestitures that occurred under predecessor John Standley(maybe a couple dozen or fewer closures have occurred under her watch over the past couple years while Walgreens has closed scores more stores during that timespan,even closing 6 Sacramento locations over the past 5 years).

As for the current corporate offices,the registered headquarters are in West Pennsboro Township with a Camp Hill postal address with a primary operations base in Goldsboro/Etters.
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Re: Rite Aid relocating hq - to Philadelphia

Post by Alpha8472 »

What is the difference between the 2 Wellness decors?
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Re: Rite Aid relocating hq - to Philadelphia

Post by norcalriteaidclerk »

Alpha8472 wrote: October 3rd, 2021, 4:35 pm What is the difference between the 2 Wellness decors?
The first version(launched in 2011)had tan and beige accents.While I'm not aware of any Bay Area locations with that decor,it is present in several Sactown locations(the other Citrus Heights store on Auburn/Van Maren NWC as well as Lower Watt,Kiefer in Rosemont,Alhambra in midtown,and Greenhaven).The second version(which rolled out a year or 2 later)had more variable colored accents.At least a third(maybe roughly half)of the remaining Bay Area locations(including Concord,Pleasant Hill,Martinez,and the Palos Verdes store in Walnut Creek)have this revised package as well as several(maybe even a dozen)Sactown locations(definitely K Street,Walerga,the Manzanita store which is in my home zip code,the Gold River store which is the de facto regional flagship,and likely others I haven't managed to visit yet).
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