storewanderer wrote: ↑January 20th, 2023, 10:38 pm
Super S wrote: ↑January 20th, 2023, 8:53 am
The only other Longs store that was ever in Southwest Washington was in Salmon Creek, next to Albertsons. It was not acquired by Rite Aid and is now a Goodwill store. Ironically, Rite Aid once had a store in Hazel Dell which was a former PayLess. Rite Aid had plans for a new store at one point, but abandoned them, and closed the existing store a few years later with no replacement.
Rite Aid actually has a very weak presence in Vancouver, with only two locations.
There was a Rite Aid somewhere up north that still had a Pay 'N Save interior for quite some time after becoming Rite Aid, in either Kent or Des Moines. I am not sure of the exact location though, or if it is still open.
The poor presence of Rite Aid (or Payless) in Vancouver, WA is a bit strange. I am wondering why their presence is so limited. Is it due to the age/size of the Safeway units around the area not being built with a drug co-anchor?
I remember that store with the Pay N Save interior and thought I had pictures of it, but cannot find the pictures. I think it was directly on Pacific Highway and the front of it faced west. 26200 Pacific Highway South appears to be the store.
That one is the one I thought it was also, but, after looking on Google Maps, I wasn't sure, it seemed like the shopping center was a bit more run down than those pictures show. The store looks like it has closed recently and has some kind of barricades on the windows making it hard to tell if it ever was remodeled.
The two original PayLess stores in Vancouver were in Hazel Dell near 78th Street (now a Ross) and in Orchards (now Bi-Mart) PayLess built a replacement store nearby (along with Albertsons which was next to PayLess in the old location) but Rite Aid eventually closed that location. Albertsons moved to Padden Parkway about 10 years after the new Orchards store was built, which eventually also closed.
PayLess started building a store right before Rite Aid bought them out at 136th & Mill Plain, which opened as Rite Aid, and remains open.
Rite Aid has one newer store on 162nd Ave.
Hi-School Pharmacy had a strong presence for many years but eventually the Vancouver locations were sold to Walgreens, which was already building new stores in the area.
Vancouver seems like it could have potential for CVS to operate standalone stores with a relatively weak Rite Aid presence.