Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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norcalriteaidclerk
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

Post by norcalriteaidclerk »

reymann wrote: August 2nd, 2022, 7:07 am Problem is that the drug store industry is shifting away from brick & mortar at this point. I feel like rite aid will eventually get bought by private equity or possibly consolidate with albertsons and close any rite aid that is near an albertsons or safeway store and maybe use the rite aid and thrifty properties for their stores.
Based on how a number of retailers have been destroyed by private equity(Toys-R-Us,Mervyns,etc.),I think that any hedge firm that would acquire RAD will more than likely kill the company completely.Additionally,though not entirely out of the question,I find it improbable that Albertsafeway/ABS/ACI will try to acquire RAD again given that Bob Miller(a one time RAD-CEO who was brought in along with Mary Sammons by Leonard Green to clean up the mess Martin Grass left behind)retired as CEO a couple years back.More realistically than anything,it would be more likely that WBA could make another attempt to acquire RAD whole given that executive president John Standley was the previous RAD CEO(and far from blameless for the reason RAD is in the situation it is in now),though it is preferrable that RAD steers clear of BK or merger.

While the closures appear to have largely stopped,I have noticed that as late as this past May the lone Santa Clara store along El Camino Real(former Thrifty in a very old center)still had old exterior signage per Google Street View though it has been remodeled into the second version of the Wellness decor.San Leandro(either a former Thrifty or Payless,don't know which though)still had old signs as last month per a user supplied image.San Mateo Concar also still had old signage as of March though its murky future(the Concar Passage mixed use project has long been proposed for the property which the shopping center sits on)may play into this.Closer to home,900 Sunrise also had old signs as late as April.Then again,having a combination of new logo signs and either version of the Wellness remodel hasn't necessarily saved stores from closure(Los Gatos,5712 Folsom,and some of the SoCal closures being examples).
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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norcalriteaidclerk wrote: August 2nd, 2022, 10:00 pm
Based on how a number of retailers have been destroyed by private equity(Toys-R-Us,Mervyns,etc.),I think that any hedge firm that would acquire RAD will more than likely kill the company completely.Additionally,though not entirely out of the question,I find it improbable that Albertsafeway/ABS/ACI will try to acquire RAD again given that Bob Miller(a one time RAD-CEO who was brought in along with Mary Sammons by Leonard Green to clean up the mess Martin Grass left behind)retired as CEO a couple years back.More realistically than anything,it would be more likely that WBA could make another attempt to acquire RAD whole given that executive president John Standley was the previous RAD CEO(and far from blameless for the reason RAD is in the situation it is in now),though it is preferrable that RAD steers clear of BK or merger.

While the closures appear to have largely stopped,I have noticed that as late as this past May the lone Santa Clara store along El Camino Real(former Thrifty in a very old center)still had old exterior signage per Google Street View though it has been remodeled into the second version of the Wellness decor.San Leandro(either a former Thrifty or Payless,don't know which though)still had old signs as last month per a user supplied image.San Mateo Concar also still had old signage as of March though its murky future(the Concar Passage mixed use project has long been proposed for the property which the shopping center sits on)may play into this.Closer to home,900 Sunrise also had old signs as late as April.Then again,having a combination of new logo signs and either version of the Wellness remodel hasn't necessarily saved stores from closure(Los Gatos,5712 Folsom,and some of the SoCal closures being examples).
It will be interesting to see if CVS makes any moves. I think the west coast operation could be quite valuable for CVS, the rural stores, if CVS wants them. CA would be a problem from a competitive standpoint and I am not sure what would happen. Hopefully not a Fred like proposal. Or another Haggen. But screwy things happen to allow giant corporations to get even more giant. I am not sure if CVS wants more rural stores out west (how hard would organic expansion have been...), but CVS runs a lot of rural stores in other parts of the US. Walgreens seems pretty lousy at rural stores, but who knows what they may go after.

The Santa Clara Store you are describing was next to what was a busy Save Mart that closed some years back. At the time shopping center redevelopment was speculated. I guess nothing has happened yet.

I hope the closures are over but the numbers don't seem to prove that out just yet. I hope I'm wrong.
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

Post by Alpha8472 »

A former Payless, now Rite Aid with Thrifty Ice Cream in Martinez, California split up a short time ago. O'Reilly Auto Parts took up a portion of the store. The Rite Aid is still quite large. Auto Parts stores are doing good business and expanding. Maybe Rite Aid should start selling auto parts...
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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All of the Wild Harvest Food is now 75% off. According to signs this sale started 7/24.

It appears Rite Aid is not going to be using Supervalu/UNFI private label brands going forward. I wonder if they will start using a different wholesaler, or just will have even more empty shelves.
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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storewanderer wrote:All of the Wild Harvest Food is now 75% off. According to signs this sale started 7/24.

It appears Rite Aid is not going to be using Supervalu/UNFI private label brands going forward. I wonder if they will start using a different wholesaler, or just will have even more empty shelves.
This may have very well been a stopgap measure of sorts.According to an internal memo,big win spices will be double merchandised as they have already been additionally merchandised in the 'dollar shop' aisle where a number of items have had their price points doubled(from $1 to $2).It would be interesting to see what replaces essential everyday items in the pantry aisle,as well as the wild harvest pet food...

According to an old Flickr post,that Martinez location wasn't initially a Payless but was rather a value Giant (California chain that was acquired by Payless NW a few years before they acquired Payless Super Drug Stores of Oakland)before becoming its long stint as a Payless.It was remodeled into the sotf format around 1990 and kept that floorplan (getting a rite choice repaint around 2000)until being downsize remodeled in the mid 2010's into version 2 of the wellness decor.Placerville Fair Lane(wonder about the floorspace usage as it still has Rite choice decor,at least they have new logo signs)and Manteca are also continuations of value Giant operations though the latter may have itself undergone multiple downsizings over the years(a sublease connected to that location lapses at the end of next month).Woodland was replaced by the current customer world era unit around 2009.Arcata,El cerrito,and Salinas South Main were sold to Long's drugs in late 1999(all three are presumed to be still operating as CVS).As for auto parts, I wouldn't bet on it as most automotive items(save for WD-40 which was re-merchandised in the now-rudimentary hardware area,car-freshener tags which are now in the household cleaners aisle,and windshield wiper fluid which has returned and re-merchandised in hardware)were phased out a year or two ago.

Their token remaining presence in Massachusetts (where most locations were divested to Walgreens except for a few) is both interesting and peculiar:Most locations are concentrated in the Fall River-New Bedford area which is ironic as it's part of a TV market(Providence-New Bedford-Fall River)centered in a state that they withdrew from in the mass divestiture to Walgreens (Rhode Island).They do additionally have scattered locations elsewhere in the bay state,which interestingly includes at least one in the Boston suburbs (Revere). Interesting that they never completely left greater beantown (CVS began in the northern exurb of Lowell though now based in Woonsocket, RI);but then again, RAD maintains a sizable presence in New Hampshire where few locations if any were included in the divestitures to Walgreens that occurred in the wake of the blocked outright merger.

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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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In the 90s, Payless in the San Francisco Bay Area had huge stores. They carried a huge selection of items. The Payless in Pleasant Hill, California was originally an Albertsons Payless Combo store. The 2 companies teamed up to create a super store that featured a supermarket and a variety store with many departments. The Albertsons eventually closed in the 70s, but the Payless continued with a huge food section and tons of departments.

Then around 1996 the huge Albertsons Payless Combo store was bulldozed and replaced by a smaller Payless and the land was big enough for Staples, Computer City, and other shops. The new Payless still had a huge outdoor garden center and a huge selection of items beyond a typical drugstore. The Thrifty across the street was closed and turned into a Dollar Tree. Then in 1998, Rite Aid took over. Eventually a Thrifty Ice Cream counter was added to the remaining Rite Aid.
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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norcalriteaidclerk wrote: August 6th, 2022, 11:54 am All of the Wild Harvest Food is now 75% off. According to signs this sale started 7/24.

This may have very well been a stopgap measure of sorts.According to an internal memo,big win spices will be double merchandised as they have already been additionally merchandised in the 'dollar shop' aisle where a number of items have had their price points doubled(from $1 to $2).It would be interesting to see what replaces essential everyday items in the pantry aisle,as well as the wild harvest pet food...
Wild Harvest Pet Food was already replaced in Gardnerville with some branded pet foods, I forget what brand. This happened in the past few weeks.

Quite a bit of short date on the Wild Harvest food items I am noticing. I guess it didn't work out too well. It didn't seem like there was much promotion on the line in the past year. I am surprised Supervalu/UNFI did not try harder to move more product through Rite Aid. 2,200 stores is 2,200 stores and even if they don't move much food, Supervalu/UNFI was just delivering to the Rite Aid distribution centers (not to the stores) so that was only a few deliveries to make.

Truckee Store has an odd sign up that now just says Pharmacy Closed (does not say when it is opening again). A different person in the store today with a "Store Manager" name badge than the guy who was in there last week so it appears they are literally importing store managers on a daily basis from elsewhere to run this store. This is a bad situation. The CVS is operating much more normally in Truckee but with CVS it is tough to tell if they are shorthanded or CVS doesn't give much of a labor budget. At least they are open more. Raleys and Safeway are fine too. Save Mart is of course fine (not exactly a high volume operation, but maybe for Save Mart it is above average) from a staffing perspective. Starbucks is struggling and cannot maintain normal hours. The McDonalds in Truckee advertising $19/hr seemed somewhat short staffed but the people there were working very quickly.
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

Post by storewanderer »

Strange sign that doesn't even say when pharmacy is open again in Truckee. The version last week said it was open Monday through Friday from 9 to 6.
Pharm .jpg
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

Post by jamcool »

Alpha8472 wrote: August 6th, 2022, 9:14 pm In the 90s, Payless in the San Francisco Bay Area had huge stores. They carried a huge selection of items. The Payless in Pleasant Hill, California was originally an Albertsons Payless Combo store. The 2 companies teamed up to create a super store that featured a supermarket and a variety store with many departments. The Albertsons eventually closed in the 70s, but the Payless continued with a huge food section and tons of departments.

Then around 1996 the huge Albertsons Payless Combo store was bulldozed and replaced by a smaller Payless and the land was big enough for Staples, Computer City, and other shops. The new Payless still had a huge outdoor garden center and a huge selection of items beyond a typical drugstore. The Thrifty across the street was closed and turned into a Dollar Tree. Then in 1998, Rite Aid took over. Eventually a Thrifty Ice Cream counter was added to the remaining Rite Aid.
Sounds similar to the Skaggs Albertsons operation in the Southwest.
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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jamcool wrote: August 6th, 2022, 11:31 pm
Alpha8472 wrote: August 6th, 2022, 9:14 pm In the 90s, Payless in the San Francisco Bay Area had huge stores. They carried a huge selection of items. The Payless in Pleasant Hill, California was originally an Albertsons Payless Combo store. The 2 companies teamed up to create a super store that featured a supermarket and a variety store with many departments. The Albertsons eventually closed in the 70s, but the Payless continued with a huge food section and tons of departments.

Then around 1996 the huge Albertsons Payless Combo store was bulldozed and replaced by a smaller Payless and the land was big enough for Staples, Computer City, and other shops. The new Payless still had a huge outdoor garden center and a huge selection of items beyond a typical drugstore. The Thrifty across the street was closed and turned into a Dollar Tree. Then in 1998, Rite Aid took over. Eventually a Thrifty Ice Cream counter was added to the remaining Rite Aid.
Sounds similar to the Skaggs Albertsons operation in the Southwest.
It was unusual for the Albertsons with Payless in CA to share a common wall (some did). Usually they just opened in the same shopping center. I don't know of any others that were a combo store like the Pleasant Hill described was. At that time the Payless operation in question was a CA-based Payless that had nothing to do with the OR-based Payless. The CA-based Payless briefly ran a store in Reno and a store in Sparks in the late 70's but both were with Longs and downsized (still big stores) by the early 80's then CVS closed both without converting; there was a Payless in Elko, NV that was from the late 70's or early 80's and I am not sure if that was from the CA Payless or the OR Payless; that store was closed shortly after the Rite Aid conversion.
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