RIP Rite Aid.

[hardcorestitch]

All remaining stores have now closed. Now there is no more rite aid. NONE.

For those local to Disneyland who used to get Thrifty ice cream fresh from those stores, that is also gone too. The new Thrifty is all just mass produced.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

My local rite aid closed about a year ago. It was always empty. The location is now a Spirit Halloween.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Mine closed a few months ago. It was where I went to get my prescriptions filled, and it was always a hassle and huge pain because they served many areas around the county so you would get lost in the shuffle. Long lines, etc. Now I go to a small neighborhood pharmacy, am known by name and I'm in and out in less than ten minutes-usually five.

 

[hardcorestitch]

My local rite aid closed about a year ago. It was always empty. The location is now a Spirit Halloween.

What a spooky use of space.

 

[easyas123]

Now I go to a small neighborhood pharmacy, am known by name and I'm in and out in less than ten minutes-usually five.

I went from Walgreens to a small, local-owned pharmacy. So much better in terms of customer service, friendliness and efficiency.

 

[_19disnA]

Seemed like only a matter of time until some of these drugstore chains put each other out of business. There used to be a drug store on virtually every corner almost like gas stations............LOL. Clearly they are all competing for the same customers and grocery stores now have pharmacies (and better prices) so they also lose out to them.

 

[hardcorestitch]

Seemed like only a matter of time until some of these drugstore chains put each other out of business. There used to be a drug store on virtually every corner almost like gas stations............LOL. Clearly they are all competing for the same customers and grocery stores now have pharmacies (and better prices) so they also lose out to them.

Don’t forget about Amazon. Amazon ruined brick and mortar so hard they killed another one.

 

[tvguy]

Rite Aid was the new kid on the block as far as Drug Stores here. We used to have Payless and Thrifty Drug stores. They merged into one company in 1994. Then Rite Aid bought that company in 1996. All the Thrifty Drug store locations here were closed, and Rite Aid took over what had originally been Payless stores. Over time they remodeled the stores into much much smaller stores, about one third of the size of what Payless stores had been in the same location. I think that was one of Rite Aid's mistakes. The stores were just too small and did not carry enough product to survive. Of course, a mainstay of Payless' products were overstock items like Dollar Tree, and 99 cent store focus on now.

 

[kmill99]

Actually, the problem is pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Take a minute and do a Google dive on these. They're killing patient care in America, and destroying pharmacies everywhere with their despicable acts.
To be fair though, the hypocritical lawsuits by the government against chain pharmacies - in regard to the opioid crisis the same government negligently allowed to occur - also has driven some solid nails into the coffins.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Our local Rite Aid has turned into the post office for that town.

 

[_19disnA]

Drugstore chains who think their only competition are other drugstores are missing the market. I can shop at Target/Walmart or even the local grocery store and find a wide variety of items with lower prices (and each has a pharmacy). Even if some drugstore has friendly cashiers or helpful customer service, most people are shopping based on who has lower prices. Items in most drugstores generally seem higher than you can find elsewhere.

 

[Kitty 34]

I have always used a small locally owned pharmacy. My DH uses Meijer.

 

[NotUrsula]

So many local small chains were devoured by RiteAid, who then drained them of their local character and destroyed customer loyalty. This was especially true of urban areas, and now a lot of those places will lose access to a local store.

 

[lanejudy]

Our Rite Aid closed years ago -- before the pandemic.

 

[RedAngie]

My local Rite Aid closed early summer 2024. The two or three others in the extended area closed this past summer. All are still sitting empty.

 

[anrew]

Our closed more than two years ago

 

[hardcorestitch]

One of the locations in my area has now turned into a locally owned pet supply store…

 

[DodgerGirl]

Drug stores were king next to variety stores and supermarkets and in addition to selling medical supplies and medicines drug stores used to be top places to get things like snacks and holiday decor for almost every holiday such as Halloween Easter Valentine's Day and Christmas but when Payless and Thrifty bought Rite Aid I think they were planning to introduce Rite Aid into California because in California Thrifty and Payless were the top drug stores in Northern California while in Southern California Rite Aid shared competition with Sav-On Drugs. But once CVS became the new king Rite Aid began to hurt and when you look at it CVS has truly become the king of drug stores second to Walgreens. But what really caused the demise of Rite Aid was in Northern California was when Longs Drugs bought them and you could tell that an image change was happening because Longs Drugs was known for quality items. But when Longs Drugs converted itself to CVS in California this meant the end for Rite Aid. But nowadays the only places that are big other than Walgreens and CVS are independent pharmacies and with Walmart and supermarkets such as Albertson's and Ralph's having pharmacies Rite Aid faced competition with those pharmacies

 

[NotUrsula]

Drugstore chains who think their only competition are other drugstores are missing the market. I can shop at Target/Walmart or even the local grocery store and find a wide variety of items with lower prices (and each has a pharmacy). Even if some drugstore has friendly cashiers or helpful customer service, most people are shopping based on who has lower prices. Items in most drugstores generally seem higher than you can find elsewhere.

In the case of many of the local chains that Rite-Aid replaced, there probably was customer loyalty because of good service and generous hours, but also because of locally-valued products. A national chain wouldn't replicate them the way that a local store could.

For example, growing up in South Louisiana, K&B Drugs carried a huge line of house-branded products, which were affordable, but actually better quality than most generics; such as K&B bandages, which actually stayed on. It was the place where we knew we could get our favorite Creole Cream Cheese ice cream for birthday parties, or Nectar Soda in bottles, or cheap-but-decent house-brand bourbon for making bourbon balls. They were always open earlier and later than every other store, and always open on Christmas (Purple & tan K&B gift wrap ended up under almost every tree, usually from that single uncle who always shopped on the way to MawMaw's house at 8 am on Christmas morning, and got his gifts along with extra liquor and ice. They had wrapping service, but only one kind of paper.) We all had purple ice chests and purple trash cans and purple fly-swatters, and shopped for holiday candy there because they stocked plenty of Elmer's brand candy and Hubig's hand pies. K&B was still a profitable company when Rite-Aid bought it, and they paid quite a lot for the brand.

K&B Purple is a unique color, and anyone older than about 35 who spent time in South Louisiana or the Mississippi Gulf Coast before 1997 can recognize it on sight. (And for those who wonder what it looks like, here it is. EVERYTHING that was house-branded was packaged in it, and also the paper bags at the registers. Every time I see it, I think of home. It was cultural currency.)

(My DD bought an expensive prom dress last spring, and when she opened the bag to show me, the first thing out of my mouth was "It's K&B purple!" It looked lovely on her, but it was absolutely the same color. My entire extended family said exactly the same thing when they saw the photos.)

 

[Nayan]

Rite Aid was a victim of many things: failed mergers, massive lawsuits/debt due to the opioid crisis, mismanagement, etc. I think those things contributed to their demise more so than competition.