Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

[storewanderer]

Okay this article explains CVS is cutting hours.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/20 ... 132743002/

They've cut pharmacy operating budgets big time. Hours are being cut. The number of 24 hour stores continues to decrease.

They have what were some very busy pharmacies in Reno closing at 6 PM weekdays and not even open Sunday. A couple lucky locations close at 9 still, and a good chunk closes at 8 which seems sufficient. The 24 hour store's pharmacy closes at 10 PM but the store is still 24 hours.

[buckguy]

Okay this article explains CVS is cutting hours.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/20 ... 132743002/

They've cut pharmacy operating budgets big time. Hours are being cut. The number of 24 hour stores continues to decrease.

They have what were some very busy pharmacies in Reno closing at 6 PM weekdays and not even open Sunday. A couple lucky locations close at 9 still, and a good chunk closes at 8 which seems sufficient. The 24 hour store's pharmacy closes at 10 PM but the store is still 24 hours.

It says the same thing as the other article, except it does the math. It sounds like you still have some open late. They've long had locations without prescription service on Sunday, predating COVID---usually in downtown office districts like Wall Street or the West End area in DC. I'm more surprised that they broaught back 24 hour presecription service in as many locations as they have.

[Alpha8472]

In the San Francisco Bay Area, CVS rarely has any 24 hour prescription pharmacies. Walgreens has some, but those seem to be drive thru locations. Those 24 hour locations are robbed often. No one wants to work in those locations.

CVS pharmacies inside of Target seem to close at 7 PM or earlier.

Rite Aid does not seem to have any pharmacies open past 9 PM.

[storewanderer]

There is a 24 hour CVS in Fair Oaks (Sacramento), one in Fremont and one in San Jose.

CVS hours in NorCal are mostly closing pharmacy at 7, 8, or 9. These are all recent cuts in hours of operation.

They aren't adding 24 hour pharmacies, they are cutting them. Locations that offered it and stopped due to staffing may be bringing it back since it was never intended to go away in the first place but they are absolutely not expanding the count of 24 hour pharmacies, they are cutting the number of 24 hour pharmacies to save money.

What surprises me is many 24 hour front end CVS exist where pharmacy is no longer 24 hours.

Also the Target units are having significant hours cuts due to being so low volume. My suggestion to anyone who thinks they must use CVS is to go to a Target one for the best possible experience.

[Super S]

Moving back to Rite Aid....

I haven't seen them doing anything with store hours locally yet, but it won't surprise me if they start closing earlier, given the way the Longview store is starting to look.

[storewanderer]

Noticed better in-stock at Rite Aid this week than it has been for the past 5-6 weeks. Everything I was looking for was in stock and I did not take the last package off the shelf of any items I was buying. Maybe inventory levels are finally improving a little. I hope.

[Romr123]

Store here at Sunrise/Tahquitz looks pretty good--they've got planograms taped up in the seasonal areas. Was recently in a short line midday at the pharmacy which is encouraging...they seem to have a couple pharmacists and 3-4 technicians now during the midday hours.

[storewanderer]

I'm seeing some summer seasonal, mainly garden, already set at some stores. This timing is about right for CA, garden season starts now.

[buckguy]

Garden merchandise turns up everywhere by now. In the Southeast there's a limited window to plant things because of ground temps--the rule of them is you do it by Memorial Day which gets complicated because of all the rain that the East gets in Spring. In the North people keep things in pots in bring them indoors as needed or do other measures until the threat of freezes has past.

[storewanderer]

Garden merchandise turns up everywhere by now. In the Southeast there's a limited window to plant things because of ground temps--the rule of them is you do it by Memorial Day which gets complicated because of all the rain that the East gets in Spring. In the North people keep things in pots in bring them indoors as needed or do other measures until the threat of freezes has past.

This varies by region. The Rite Aid locations I am referring to still had below freezing temperatures and some snow last week. Garden items in these locations usually do not come out until after Easter. This varies somewhat. It tends to show up sooner in the parts of California that never freeze and some of it is there all year in California. The past couple years Wal Mart has started to rush it out in January regardless of climate. Of course there is also Target who basically doesn't even acknowledge the category exists. Sad that a drugstore like Rite Aid has a stronger garden program than Target.