Rite Aid

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Re: Rite Aid

Post by veteran+ »

I have witnessed this type of behavior at many companies!

I have also been told about this by close friends and family.

Very prevalent with mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, downsizings, etc.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by ClownLoach »

veteran+ wrote: December 12th, 2021, 8:34 am I have witnessed this type of behavior at many companies!

I have also been told about this by close friends and family.

Very prevalent with mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, downsizings, etc.
The Store Manager I hired had been there for decades. He was bluntly told by his outgoing District Manager to go find a new job fast because they were under orders from CVS to do whatever investigation was necessary to find policy violations to have every single Sav-On/Osco SM terminated within 12 months of the closure. Any problem found on any visit would be approved for termination by HR without a write up no matter how minor. Toilet paper low in the stall? Fire the SM.
The DM left because they were given a golden parachute buyout package. But no such deals were given to the Store Managers who all had pensions lined up after working decades. I don't know how CVS wasn't hammered with a class action for this. They destroyed the lives of some of these Store Managers.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by storewanderer »

mbz321 wrote: December 11th, 2021, 6:40 pm I've noticed pretty much every Rite Aid in my area (Philly suburbs) has shortened both their Pharmacy and store hours. The one in my town that has been 24 Hours in my town for years is now closing at midnight (CVS in town was also 24 hours, but they also cut back to midnight last year). Looking around, locations seem to have varying opening times between 7/8/9 AM. and Closing at 9/10/11/12 at night. A few, what I imagine super low-volume locations are 9 am - 9 pm (and one where the store closes at 6 on Saturdays!)
The location I go to only has a few employees left on the front end. This place has almost no traffic in the evening but is somewhat busy in the morning and early afternoon. One week around Halloween it was closing every day at 6 PM due to someone being on vacation. It appears the not there very long externally hired store manager moved on (replaced one who had been there for quite a while), and the few employees left are very long term (a couple are 20+ years of tenure). New/young employees seem to stay a few months then leave, they seem very bored. Now they close every day at 8 PM.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: December 12th, 2021, 9:05 pm

The Store Manager I hired had been there for decades. He was bluntly told by his outgoing District Manager to go find a new job fast because they were under orders from CVS to do whatever investigation was necessary to find policy violations to have every single Sav-On/Osco SM terminated within 12 months of the closure. Any problem found on any visit would be approved for termination by HR without a write up no matter how minor. Toilet paper low in the stall? Fire the SM.
The DM left because they were given a golden parachute buyout package. But no such deals were given to the Store Managers who all had pensions lined up after working decades. I don't know how CVS wasn't hammered with a class action for this. They destroyed the lives of some of these Store Managers.
This is interesting. Up in Reno, one of the old Sav-On managers was still running a store as recently as 2020. Also there is another person who was a Sav-On manager at the time of the merger, then became the DM, and was running a store again at least as of a few months ago.

One thing I did hear back when CVS took the Sav-On Stores over was they told the management who was on the bonus program that since they were under new ownership there would be no bonus this year and they will be considered for bonuses starting the following year. That struck me as something to do to try and shed some people.

However what you are saying about the expectations of a CVS manager vs. an ASC manager are very true. It is a different world. And CVS Stores run on some of the most thin labor allocations I've ever seen. It is unbelievable how little labor they get. The store manager on salary is the one who makes up for that. I regularly see CVS store managers in their stores at times that I consider highly unusual for a store manager to be in the store- Saturday night, Sunday night, etc. Sometimes they appear to be the only one there working. My interactions with these managers is overwhelmingly positive which is impressive given how CVS is. Beyond a few hard sells for Carepass I find the employees at CVS to be pretty friendly on the front store side. On the pharmacy side... I see lines and stress. I've said it before- find a low volume grocery store or independent pharmacy to go to.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by arizonaguy »

storewanderer wrote: December 13th, 2021, 12:00 am
ClownLoach wrote: December 12th, 2021, 9:05 pm

The Store Manager I hired had been there for decades. He was bluntly told by his outgoing District Manager to go find a new job fast because they were under orders from CVS to do whatever investigation was necessary to find policy violations to have every single Sav-On/Osco SM terminated within 12 months of the closure. Any problem found on any visit would be approved for termination by HR without a write up no matter how minor. Toilet paper low in the stall? Fire the SM.
The DM left because they were given a golden parachute buyout package. But no such deals were given to the Store Managers who all had pensions lined up after working decades. I don't know how CVS wasn't hammered with a class action for this. They destroyed the lives of some of these Store Managers.
This is interesting. Up in Reno, one of the old Sav-On managers was still running a store as recently as 2020. Also there is another person who was a Sav-On manager at the time of the merger, then became the DM, and was running a store again at least as of a few months ago.

One thing I did hear back when CVS took the Sav-On Stores over was they told the management who was on the bonus program that since they were under new ownership there would be no bonus this year and they will be considered for bonuses starting the following year. That struck me as something to do to try and shed some people.

However what you are saying about the expectations of a CVS manager vs. an ASC manager are very true. It is a different world. And CVS Stores run on some of the most thin labor allocations I've ever seen. It is unbelievable how little labor they get. The store manager on salary is the one who makes up for that. I regularly see CVS store managers in their stores at times that I consider highly unusual for a store manager to be in the store- Saturday night, Sunday night, etc. Sometimes they appear to be the only one there working. My interactions with these managers is overwhelmingly positive which is impressive given how CVS is. Beyond a few hard sells for Carepass I find the employees at CVS to be pretty friendly on the front store side. On the pharmacy side... I see lines and stress. I've said it before- find a low volume grocery store or independent pharmacy to go to.
The low volume grocery store strategy works, to a point. I've found the Safeway I routinely use tends to not have prescriptions I need (I then need to call another Safeway to fill it).

I've actually never had a problem with a Walmart pharmacy. They seem to be staffed decently well enough and I've never had too much of a wait.

My local Fry's on the other hand is a total madhouse. Extremely high volume and extremely high wait times.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by BillyGr »

arizonaguy wrote: December 13th, 2021, 11:26 am The low volume grocery store strategy works, to a point. I've found the Safeway I routinely use tends to not have prescriptions I need (I then need to call another Safeway to fill it).

I've actually never had a problem with a Walmart pharmacy. They seem to be staffed decently well enough and I've never had too much of a wait.

My local Fry's on the other hand is a total madhouse. Extremely high volume and extremely high wait times.
That seems odd - unless those prescriptions are something urgent (like you went to the doctor and you need to start it yesterday), why wouldn't they just be able to order it and get it for you, vs. sending you to another store? If they are dealing with a pharmacy supplier, they should be able to get whatever exists...
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by rwsandiego »

BillyGr wrote: December 13th, 2021, 5:04 pm
arizonaguy wrote: December 13th, 2021, 11:26 am The low volume grocery store strategy works, to a point. I've found the Safeway I routinely use tends to not have prescriptions I need (I then need to call another Safeway to fill it).

I've actually never had a problem with a Walmart pharmacy. They seem to be staffed decently well enough and I've never had too much of a wait.

My local Fry's on the other hand is a total madhouse. Extremely high volume and extremely high wait times.
That seems odd - unless those prescriptions are something urgent (like you went to the doctor and you need to start it yesterday), why wouldn't they just be able to order it and get it for you, vs. sending you to another store? If they are dealing with a pharmacy supplier, they should be able to get whatever exists...
I also get prescriptions filled at an Arizona Safeway (McDowell Road in Central Phoenix) and they do exactly what you stated, @BillyGr. They order the product and fill the script the following day. Interestingly, they tend to have more exotic meds like extra-powerful antibiotics and will be out of more run-of-the mill meds.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by storewanderer »

rwsandiego wrote: December 13th, 2021, 10:19 pm
I also get prescriptions filled at an Arizona Safeway (McDowell Road in Central Phoenix) and they do exactly what you stated, @BillyGr. They order the product and fill the script the following day. Interestingly, they tend to have more exotic meds like extra-powerful antibiotics and will be out of more run-of-the mill meds.
It may depend how often they get deliveries as to what time they order, what the cut off time is, what day of the week it is, etc. For instance if you go Friday at 4 PM and something needs to be ordered, it may not show up until Monday.

I have heard of horror stories with most chains when something is out of stock. A good independent pharmacy or not very busy grocery store pharmacy (read: regional chain; support their pharmacies before they close the other half of them or sell to CVS or someone) will watch and order items when a refill is coming due.
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by Alpha8472 »

The new "lean" pharmacy operations policies are to order as little stock as possible. The pharmacy loses money when expensive medications sit on the shelves and expire. The pharmacies have policies in place to regularly clear the shelves of drugs that have not been used in the last 30 days and return them to the drug distributer. It is a cost cutting policy ordered by the bean counters at the corporate offices.

It causes chaos at the pharmacy as many medications end up being out of stock. Usually, pharmacies can order most medications for next day delivery. The cut off time for ordering is usually 3 PM for corporate chain warehouse deliveries and 7 PM for deliveries from drug distributer Mckesson. If a pharmacy has exotic medications in stock, it might be an item that is non-returnable to the manufacturer and was ordered previously for a patient who failed to pick it up. Usually, the computer would prompt a pharmacy to return expensive and unused items that have not been filled in 30 days. After 30 days, you do not get as much money refunded from the drug distributer.

Pharmacy software is different for each chain. Some pharmacies do not order medications in anticipation of need. The computer will only order medications in advance if they are commonly used "Fast Mover" medications. These are the top 100 most used drugs. All other drugs are not ordered unless a prescription for that medication is presented to the pharmacy. It is all about "lean" operations. Save every penny...
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Re: Rite Aid

Post by jamcool »

rwsandiego wrote: December 13th, 2021, 10:19 pm
BillyGr wrote: December 13th, 2021, 5:04 pm
arizonaguy wrote: December 13th, 2021, 11:26 am The low volume grocery store strategy works, to a point. I've found the Safeway I routinely use tends to not have prescriptions I need (I then need to call another Safeway to fill it).

I've actually never had a problem with a Walmart pharmacy. They seem to be staffed decently well enough and I've never had too much of a wait.

My local Fry's on the other hand is a total madhouse. Extremely high volume and extremely high wait times.
That seems odd - unless those prescriptions are something urgent (like you went to the doctor and you need to start it yesterday), why wouldn't they just be able to order it and get it for you, vs. sending you to another store? If they are dealing with a pharmacy supplier, they should be able to get whatever exists...
I also get prescriptions filled at an Arizona Safeway (McDowell Road in Central Phoenix) and they do exactly what you stated, @BillyGr. They order the product and fill the script the following day. Interestingly, they tend to have more exotic meds like extra-powerful antibiotics and will be out of more run-of-the mill meds.
Being close to a hospital and several medical centers may be the reason.
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