Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

[norcalriteaidclerk]

Looks like the closures are ramping up just days from fy2023q4 earnings: they'll soon vanish from Coldwater, Michigan.



Additionally McKeesport, Pennsylvania will soon have one fewer location:

[norcalriteaidclerk]

Yet another big earnings miss.If there was any silver lining,part of the reporting quarter reflects the waning weeks of the Heyward Donigan regime and that the report avoids the question of whether potential further closures are on the horizon(the conference call transcript doesn't anticipate anywhere close to the roughly 190 closures that occurred in FY2023).I must note that on RAD-relevant Reddits,disgruntled shareholders have been calling for the head of Bruce Bodaken(BOD chairman)for months now if not years.

I must also note that La Grande,Oregon also has a W**m**t Supercenter with pharmacy in addition to a Safeway Pharmacy and an independent pharmacy.Hopefully the La Grande prescriptions went to one of the distant outlying RAD locations(Hermiston,Baker City,Pendleton,Walla Walla)though better Safeway than that big box opposite Interstate 84.

Yet through all this,I'm still confident that this company won't be sliced and diced into cube steak at this time 14-15 weeks from now when my 25-year employment anniversary rolls around.For all I know,even as the permits list the applicant as Bartell Drugs,the remodel of Tacoma James Center(original build RA-1 that most certainly replaced a PayLess nearby)discussed in a different thread could very well be into the concept format present not only at select Boise region locations but also at 2 SoCal locations(not only Winchester French Valley but also the Camarillo store that a couple years back relocated within the same center as the PayLess building it previously occupied).Based on the past timing of its quarterly reports,the combined Q4/year end financials are scheduled for mid/late-April instead of late March.I'm not expecting anything great yet for FY2024Q1(first full reporting period of the post-Donigan era,speaking of whom the fourth small-format store linked to the pet project she championed will soon open in Grottoes,Virginia)when those results roll out a couple months from now,barring something miraculous(depending on how long it takes to clean up the mess 'the former gal' left behind).

[storewanderer]

I think they can get by another few quarters based on today's report... depends how well they do hitting future forecasts.

Also if they get some management in who can get more aggressive to go after revenue growth it would solve a lot of problems.

That Tacoma remodel will be interesting to see if they use a Rite Aid format or a late Bartell format. One thing it makes clear is the banner Bartell is here to stay.

[norcalriteaidclerk]

While I have all the faith in the world in CFO Matt Schroeder(who has served under good and bad RAD CEO'S),it appears that his assertion that further store closures would be few and far between is being challenged just within the past week.Despite another experimental small format store quietly opening(Grottoes,Virginia);there has been a net loss of five more stores:not just previously announced ones(La Grande OR,McKeesport PA Lysle,and Coldwater MI)but some unannounced ones as well.At least two unidentified Pennsylvania locations(besides McKeesport Lysle)bit the dust,but I did determine(via Google Maps)that one of the below the radar closures did occur in Philly(5272 Torresdale which may or may not have been the one indirectly mentioned in the tweet below),they can't keep open locations with a a slingshot of their new HQ?



Additionally,Manhattan is now down to six locations remaining:while not yet marked as closed on Yelp or Google Maps,4188 Broadway in the Washington Heights neighborhood has been removed from the corporate locator.

This leaves 2237 namesake locations and 66 Bartell Drugs locations.California still has 477 active locations remaining(the last closure in the Golden State was Redondo Shores back in February).The combined total of active locations(namesake plus Bartell)stands at 2303 but barring the pace coming to a screeching halt it's looking like the combined figure could drop below 2300 given that a liquidation is ongoing at an unidentified location in the Buffalo-Niagara region(never mind the salty language of some of these linked tweets):



I have seemed to notice unlike 2022(technically November 2021-November 2022),a larger chunk of the 2023 closures have had older interior schemes(particularly RA-1/Rite Choice,both are the same decor with the difference being aisle layout)rather than Customer World/Wellness.

[storewanderer]

A closing sale where everything is 75% off right out of the gate sounds like a fire sale.

What.. are they doing?

My understanding in CA closing sales was they put certain categories to 75% off but didn't reduce other categories at all and packed up what was left upon closure.

[BillyGr]

but I did determine(via Google Maps)that one of the below the radar closures did occur in Philly(5272 Torresdale which may or may not have been the one indirectly mentioned in the tweet below),they can't keep open locations with a a slingshot of their new HQ?

Additionally, Manhattan is now down to six locations remaining: while not yet marked as closed on Yelp or Google Maps,4188 Broadway in the Washington Heights neighborhood has been removed from the corporate locator.

Seems like it might be similar to the issues in the West, where it's the locations (in city areas) that are the issue, not the distance from corporate.

A closing sale where everything is 75% off right out of the gate sounds like a fire sale.

What.. are they doing?

The question would be, is that the starting point, or are these closings nearing an end (with the 75% off all items)? Not sure that either of those posts indicates how long said closings may have been going on?

[norcalriteaidclerk]

Based on this video I just watched,that pending upstate NY closure I mentioned last post may not necessarily be in Buffalo/Niagara falls but rather in the next metropolitan area/media market to the east(Rochester/535 Portland). I'm not going to even delve into the political talking points pushed here since every other RAD closure that has happened in the past 18 months gets blamed on shoplifting by 'mainstream' media.



That is on top of an unidentified quiet closure in Michigan.

[veteran+]

Everyone is a credentialed Journalist with a Masters Degree and highly respected! Also well known for speaking truth to power.

Propaganda and its cousins have never been more popular. Thank you internet, where everyone is a star and everyone is an expert.

[ClownLoach]

While I have all the faith in the world in CFO Matt Schroeder(who has served under good and bad RAD CEO'S),it appears that his assertion that further store closures would be few and far between is being challenged just within the past week.Despite another experimental small format store quietly opening(Grottoes,Virginia);there has been a net loss of five more stores:not just previously announced ones(La Grande OR,McKeesport PA Lysle,and Coldwater MI)but some unannounced ones as well.At least two unidentified Pennsylvania locations(besides McKeesport Lysle)bit the dust,but I did determine(via Google Maps)that one of the below the radar closures did occur in Philly(5272 Torresdale which may or may not have been the one indirectly mentioned in the tweet below),they can't keep open locations with a a slingshot of their new HQ?



Additionally,Manhattan is now down to six locations remaining:while not yet marked as closed on Yelp or Google Maps,4188 Broadway in the Washington Heights neighborhood has been removed from the corporate locator.

This leaves 2237 namesake locations and 66 Bartell Drugs locations.California still has 477 active locations remaining(the last closure in the Golden State was Redondo Shores back in February).The combined total of active locations(namesake plus Bartell)stands at 2303 but barring the pace coming to a screeching halt it's looking like the combined figure could drop below 2300 given that a liquidation is ongoing at an unidentified location in the Buffalo-Niagara region(never mind the salty language of some of these linked tweets):



I have seemed to notice unlike 2022(technically November 2021-November 2022),a larger chunk of the 2023 closures have had older interior schemes(particularly RA-1/Rite Choice,both are the same decor with the difference being aisle layout)rather than Customer World/Wellness.

If there are only 6 Manhattan locations left then there is likely no reason not to close those too. They must have quietly decided to leave the market one or two stores at a time.

[storewanderer]

If there are only 6 Manhattan locations left then there is likely no reason not to close those too. They must have quietly decided to leave the market one or two stores at a time.

They don't really advertise anymore. I think as long as they have enough stores in NY to stay engaged in the health insurance networks needed to keep customers in the stores, those few stores can just stay. My guess is store count will go below 6 but not all the way to 0 in that market. Looking at the finances I think they can make it through this year but I question some of their forecasts. We will see what happens.

They've only had one store in NV for over a decade now. Past year-ish has not been kind to that store. Not sure what is going to happen. It appears it has lost a ton of prescription customers due to the limited hours.

They already ceded NY to Walgreens selling many stores there off, and the only reason much of anything is left in NY is because it was overlapping in the Walgreens deal so they just kept those stores.