Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

Post by storewanderer »

norcalriteaidclerk wrote: August 15th, 2022, 4:34 pm

Speaking of the Puget Sound,a prior version of this listing actually listed a closed store at 28200 Pacific Highway South in Kent for sale(the property was owned outright and not leased).I wonder if this was originally Payless or Pay-n-Save.

Back to the Golden State,it appears that Hayward/31091 Mission was relatively undersized for an old Thrifty(just 11,000 square feet,5K smaller than even 5712 Folsom in its original configuration).Then again,its parent center(Fairway Park)was built in the mid-to-late 1950's.
I see the liquor license for Thrifty at 31091 Mission came from 1976. I wonder if the store started as something else. It also seems to have a normal tile floor instead of the nicer flooring Thrifty often had. It was sort of like a mini Thrifty, but not small enough to be a Thrifty Jr. The remaining San Mateo Thrifty Jr. is about half this size.

Kent is about 23k square feet. Seems too small for Payless. Maybe the Tacoma Payless did smaller stores than the CA Payless and this store goes way back in years?
Very difficult but if you find the closed store (not pharmacy) listing on Google Maps you can see into the store. It seems to have a strange striped wall interior, with odd font wall signs. Osco had an interior like this but this doesn't look like the Osco version to me.
Payless Northwest did at one time buy some Osco Stores in WA in 1987 (separate from the 1992 ID/CO/UT deal), but I am not sure where those were. I wonder if this was one of those.
There is a much better positioned Bartell nearby. This isn't the greatest neighborhood, the Fred Meyer nearby is one of the lousiest Fred Meyers I've seen.
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

Post by norcalriteaidclerk »

storewanderer wrote:
norcalriteaidclerk wrote: August 15th, 2022, 4:34 pm

Speaking of the Puget Sound,a prior version of this listing actually listed a closed store at 28200 Pacific Highway South in Kent for sale(the property was owned outright and not leased).I wonder if this was originally Payless or Pay-n-Save.

Back to the Golden State,it appears that Hayward/31091 Mission was relatively undersized for an old Thrifty(just 11,000 square feet,5K smaller than even 5712 Folsom in its original configuration).Then again,its parent center(Fairway Park)was built in the mid-to-late 1950's.
I see the liquor license for Thrifty at 31091 Mission came from 1976. I wonder if the store started as something else. It also seems to have a normal tile floor instead of the nicer flooring Thrifty often had. It was sort of like a mini Thrifty, but not small enough to be a Thrifty Jr. The remaining San Mateo Thrifty Jr. is about half this size.

Kent is about 23k square feet. Seems too small for Payless. Maybe the Tacoma Payless did smaller stores than the CA Payless and this store goes way back in years?
Very difficult but if you find the closed store (not pharmacy) listing on Google Maps you can see into the store. It seems to have a strange striped wall interior, with odd font wall signs. Osco had an interior like this but this doesn't look like the Osco version to me.
Payless Northwest did at one time buy some Osco Stores in WA in 1987 (separate from the 1992 ID/CO/UT deal), but I am not sure where those were. I wonder if this was one of those.
There is a much better positioned Bartell nearby. This isn't the greatest neighborhood, the Fred Meyer nearby is one of the lousiest Fred Meyers I've seen.
Now that you mention it 31091 Mission could have been originally occupied by a non-drugstore tenant(perhaps a long gone variety retailer like Grant's, Kress,or Newberry)as based on the interior photos I've seen via various sources the ceiling style and fixtures aren't consistent with Thrifty locations opened prior to 1964(some of the pictures in the 'voycall' Flickr gallery have good historical explanations).Such older Thrifty locations have had round drop-down air diffusers and(in RAD-inherited locations not remodeled into the Wellness 2.0 decor) 1x1 perforated ceiling tiles(not just 5712 Folsom but also still-operating RAD locations in Santa Clara, San Jose Hamilton,Los Angeles/11321 National,and Van Buren/Arlington in Riverside).

On a side note,a remodel is apparently in progress at one of the Tacoma locations.At least it appears that the 'whole health' remodel program has reached the metro Puget sound.I must be the only one who even checks the reddits.



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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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I think we would need to see the store in Tacoma to understand if they are just doing a pharmacy remodel or if there is more going on.

If they are consolidating stores they may need a larger pharmacy. The legacy Payless Stores and Thrifty Stores (so Pay N Save there) had pharmacies that are, by today's standards, quite small, when you factor in the pharmacies are higher volume today and performing more services that need more work areas (vaccines, etc.). The RA1s even had a somewhat small pharmacy but the small size was made up for by a good layout and workflow. The pharmacies Rite Aid built in the prototype Mary Sammons designed were the nicest pharmacies.
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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Rite Aid appears to be trying to stock the stores better again. I noticed many additional items stocked in the office supply aisle today including the return of some private label items previously missing for a while, and also in other categories like OTC/Health a number of items that previously had only been 2-3 on hand quantity are now at 5 or so for the on hand quantity.

Some other areas still looked pretty bare but allowing higher on hands should really help the situation.
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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Went to the location in Brattleboro, VT (in-line at a strip center next to a Market32/Price Chopper). Mid-afternoon on Saturday. Extremely busy pharmacy (at least 3 people working in the pharmacy) though rest of store was not hugely busy. Very friendly service; had completed their grocery reset. Big sign on window "Welcome Brattleboro Clinic customers"...not sure what that was all about.
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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storewanderer wrote: August 21st, 2022, 10:28 pm I think we would need to see the store in Tacoma to understand if they are just doing a pharmacy remodel or if there is more going on.

If they are consolidating stores they may need a larger pharmacy. The legacy Payless Stores and Thrifty Stores (so Pay N Save there) had pharmacies that are, by today's standards, quite small, when you factor in the pharmacies are higher volume today and performing more services that need more work areas (vaccines, etc.). The RA1s even had a somewhat small pharmacy but the small size was made up for by a good layout and workflow. The pharmacies Rite Aid built in the prototype Mary Sammons designed were the nicest pharmacies.
Not sure if other stores have done that, but a couple CVS locations here simply added a small set of two rooms for doing vaccinations in place of a portion of a couple aisles in the store. Not actually attached to the pharmacy, the person doing them has to come out from behind the counter to walk into these spaces, but not that far away either.
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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BillyGr wrote: August 22nd, 2022, 11:06 am
storewanderer wrote: August 21st, 2022, 10:28 pm I think we would need to see the store in Tacoma to understand if they are just doing a pharmacy remodel or if there is more going on.

If they are consolidating stores they may need a larger pharmacy. The legacy Payless Stores and Thrifty Stores (so Pay N Save there) had pharmacies that are, by today's standards, quite small, when you factor in the pharmacies are higher volume today and performing more services that need more work areas (vaccines, etc.). The RA1s even had a somewhat small pharmacy but the small size was made up for by a good layout and workflow. The pharmacies Rite Aid built in the prototype Mary Sammons designed were the nicest pharmacies.
Not sure if other stores have done that, but a couple CVS locations here simply added a small set of two rooms for doing vaccinations in place of a portion of a couple aisles in the store. Not actually attached to the pharmacy, the person doing them has to come out from behind the counter to walk into these spaces, but not that far away either.
I passed a CVS Health-hub in Arcadia yesterday and they have a 2-room trailer in the parking lot for vaccines.
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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Jeff wrote: August 22nd, 2022, 6:20 pm

Not sure if other stores have done that, but a couple CVS locations here simply added a small set of two rooms for doing vaccinations in place of a portion of a couple aisles in the store. Not actually attached to the pharmacy, the person doing them has to come out from behind the counter to walk into these spaces, but not that far away either.

I passed a CVS Health-hub in Arcadia yesterday and they have a 2-room trailer in the parking lot for vaccines.
Two CVS Health Hubs here have those trailers. The trailers have not been used in months. Robb Drive in Reno (a Health Hub I forgot to mention before and a former Rite Aid, what a mistake letting go of that store turned out to be). Damonte Ranch Parkway (former freestanding Longs; has plenty of space inside back room/old photo area but not using it I guess).

The trailers should have dedicated staff (the pharmacy staff should not be walking back and forth from the trailers back into the store all day). If they do not have enough vaccine volume to justify putting someone out there (which is also probably the case lately but would be expected to change in the next couple months), then nobody will be out there. In Reno they probably are just too short staffed to put anyone out there. I am not sure how stores will implement upcoming vaccine programs with how short staffed they are. Not my concern anyway. Have to stick with Raleys Pharmacy now which isn't involved in this vaccine program.
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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

Post by norcalriteaidclerk »

Romr123 wrote:Went to the location in Brattleboro, VT (in-line at a strip center next to a Market32/Price Chopper). Mid-afternoon on Saturday. Extremely busy pharmacy (at least 3 people working in the pharmacy) though rest of store was not hugely busy. Very friendly service; had completed their grocery reset. Big sign on window "Welcome Brattleboro Clinic customers"...not sure what that was all about.
I remember reading that the Brattleboro Rite Aid bought the pharmacy files of the independent Brattleboro Pharmacy.

https://www.reformer.com/local-news/rit ... d50df.html

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Re: Rite Aid closing at least 63 stores

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BillyGr wrote: August 22nd, 2022, 11:06 am Not sure if other stores have done that, but a couple CVS locations here simply added a small set of two rooms for doing vaccinations in place of a portion of a couple aisles in the store. Not actually attached to the pharmacy, the person doing them has to come out from behind the counter to walk into these spaces, but not that far away either.
Jeff wrote: August 22nd, 2022, 6:20 pm I passed a CVS Health-hub in Arcadia yesterday and they have a 2-room trailer in the parking lot for vaccines.
storewanderer wrote: August 22nd, 2022, 10:08 pm Two CVS Health Hubs here have those trailers. The trailers have not been used in months. Robb Drive in Reno (a Health Hub I forgot to mention before and a former Rite Aid, what a mistake letting go of that store turned out to be). Damonte Ranch Parkway (former freestanding Longs; has plenty of space inside back room/old photo area but not using it I guess).

The trailers should have dedicated staff (the pharmacy staff should not be walking back and forth from the trailers back into the store all day). If they do not have enough vaccine volume to justify putting someone out there (which is also probably the case lately but would be expected to change in the next couple months), then nobody will be out there. In Reno they probably are just too short staffed to put anyone out there. I am not sure how stores will implement upcoming vaccine programs with how short staffed they are. Not my concern anyway. Have to stick with Raleys Pharmacy now which isn't involved in this vaccine program.
Note that what I was referring to was rooms INSIDE THE STORE near the pharmacy, not separate from it as these are.
The employees were going back and forth to use them, but that "back and forth" would be like walking from one end of an aisle to the other, not going outside!
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