Rite Aid Store Closings

[HCal]

Looking at the dates in the store these are already aging. Shelves are completely full. Not one tub is getting paid for.

At the rate things are going I expect Albertsons will drop Thrifty. It ain't selling. They sure as heck aren't going to buy the company.

It's not selling right now because it's overpriced and there are plenty of other options.

But what if,... hear me out... Albertsons bought the company and used "Thrifty" it as its store brand for ice cream and possibly other dairy products, at a reasonable price point? At least in California, I bet it would sell better than Lucerne.

[reymann]

The insurance companies are now trying to postpone the exit hearing another 14 days. I smell a rat.

[ClownLoach]

Looking at the dates in the store these are already aging. Shelves are completely full. Not one tub is getting paid for.

At the rate things are going I expect Albertsons will drop Thrifty. It ain't selling. They sure as heck aren't going to buy the company.

It's not selling right now because it's overpriced and there are plenty of other options.

But what if,... hear me out... Albertsons bought the company and used "Thrifty" it as its store brand for ice cream and possibly other dairy products, at a reasonable price point? At least in California, I bet it would sell better than Lucerne.

It wasn't selling at $2.50 during the first heat wave of the year. The rest of the ice cream was thrashed including more expensive Lucerne. I'd wager if they can't sell it at $2.50 then they sure can't sell it at regular price. The selection is boring, the same 8 flavors sold at the thousands of other places it is offered besides Rite Aid.

[ClownLoach]

What is the use? The stores are too big, low foot traffic, and plenty of competition...

Rebranding anything is a non-starter. Nothing is getting rebranded to Bartell or Thrifty. Rebrands cost money. Many thousands for new signs (plus costs to deal with permitting, some cities getting approval of City Council, etc.). Bartell name means nothing outside the Seattle region. Bartell didn't have some magic profit generating formula. They barely made any money, that is why they ended up sold to Rite Aid... they sold before they were going to fail on their own... And given how many of these Bartell units Rite Aid closed, I can't help but wonder if Bartell contributed to Rite Aid going bankrupt.

At this point Rite Aid is an expert on new sign installations. One of the only projects they've successfully completed. Of course they're also an expert on sign removal now.

I do think there is something to be said for the Bartell and Thrifty brands if the stores were otherwise fixed and resembled the "good old days" of those chains. I do think CVS has experience with this. To this day they're still signing Hawaii as Longs Drugs and the merchandising is for the most part consistent with Longs. More food products, more gifts, local merchandise. They basically have the pharmaceutical department and pharmacy running as a CVS, they're using CVS equipment and decor, but the front end is still unmistakable as Longs. They are very productive and if I remember correctly they've opened more in very recent times.

So if CVS acquired the West Coast I could see Bartell being used at least throughout Washington state.

If Rite Aid keeps only California and leaves OR/WA, then I do think they have a chance of doing something similar to CVS/Longs HI and recreating a Thrifty operation.

There is less than zero equity in the Rite Aid brand in California. I think it has been forgotten that as bad as things were in the end days of Thrifty, the transition to Rite Aid was a colossal train wreck. Sloppy and long remodels to the dreaded slanted aisles. A completely broken freight flow operation that left stores for most of their first California decade with aisles blocked with stacks of shipping totes and empty shelves. Installation of cash registers decades older than whatever Thrifty had. Pharmacy staffing slashed in half. Horrible system problems with deleted pharmacy records, deleted insurance, expired product on shelves fresh out of that days trucks, and about 50% in stocks.

Rite Aid has been a joke operation since landing on the scene, and yet quietly their only real asset, their people, worked to make the stores better. They remodeled out those slanted aisles and ugly blue and pink interiors, they removed the harsh florescent tube lights, they fixed the in stocks, etc. But now that they're in bankruptcy they run the same way as when they arrived. Frankly what everyone else around the country is seeing at Rite Aid, they're seeing it the first time. For California especially, right now they're going out the same way they came in.

It is for that reason I do think a new name and new merchandise strategy for California is a good idea if they remain here. Because I think it's actually their last chance of survival. It doesn't even need to be Thrifty, but there was some anecdotal discussion that when they put those signs back up for ice cream they brought traffic in.

The only reason why Rite Aid might stay on the west coast for now might be to sell the real estate and nothing more. The chain is dead to me at this point.

You've made your point clear. Obviously they own very little if anything at this point. No owned stores would have closed, and if they owned most of their real estate I doubt they would have financial issues.

[Super S]

CA Rite Aid seemed to get greatly improved customer perception after CVS bought Longs... that conveniently was at the same time as the Wellness Remodels were occurring. I think Rite Aid enjoyed a decent reputation in CA in the 2010-2020 period. Before that not so much. And since then... yikes.

The same can be said elsewhere along the West Coast. I noticed that maintenance and upkeep was falling off at Walgreens, while Rite Aid was remodeling many stores, including downsizing some of the old, large PayLess stores which largely were untouched since they became Rite Aid. The stores were looking better than they had been in quite some time.

Rite Aid early on did not have a good reputation here when they acquired PayLess. More recently, they seemed to be gaining the trust of people. Then things went south VERY quickly over the last couple years. The stores are showing a lack of maintenance and upkeep, and stocking levels are a crapshoot at this point.

[veteran+]

Respecting the fans for Thrifty Ice Cream, I must concur with ClownLoach about this ice cream (former fanatic of all ice creams ). I always found it MEH, but I would not refuse to eat it,

I also like the idea of Thrifty Drugs for California coming back IF Rite Aid can survive this drawn out disaster. I do not envision anything else more viable.

Side note:

Navarro Drug stores are perfect with CVS. Cluster xxxx with everything. And their reviews show it. I do not believe ONE good review for Navarro's.

Yes, I believe they are profitable because they sell a lot of high margin junk and some pricey gifts and fragrances. No one I know in Florida will shop at these crazy and rude stores.

[reymann]

CA Rite Aid seemed to get greatly improved customer perception after CVS bought Longs... that conveniently was at the same time as the Wellness Remodels were occurring. I think Rite Aid enjoyed a decent reputation in CA in the 2010-2020 period. Before that not so much. And since then... yikes.

The same can be said elsewhere along the West Coast. I noticed that maintenance and upkeep was falling off at Walgreens, while Rite Aid was remodeling many stores, including downsizing some of the old, large PayLess stores which largely were untouched since they became Rite Aid. The stores were looking better than they had been in quite some time.

Rite Aid early on did not have a good reputation here when they acquired PayLess. More recently, they seemed to be gaining the trust of people. Then things went south VERY quickly over the last couple years. The stores are showing a lack of maintenance and upkeep, and stocking levels are a crapshoot at this point.

i've noticed an uptick of traffic at the walgreens stores around fresno lately since a lot of their stores are relatively close to a rite aid store.

[ClownLoach]

Another reason for delays has been revealed, and this is a really dumb one in my opinion. Rite Aid has emerged victorious in a $200 million dispute over Elixir.

Apparently the buyer of Elixir didn't understand the concept of bankruptcy. They bought Elixir intact, as is, and then were surprised to find that the bankrupt Rite Aid didn't turn around and write a check to pay off the debts of Elixir and replenish their cash supply. With what cash was the bankrupt Rite Aid supposed to do this with?

https://www.reuters.com/business/health ... 024-06-24/

[reymann]

Judge approves Rite Aid's exit plan and emerges but, plenty of questions remain for a chain who may only have a quarter tank of gas left.

[Retailuser]

Still wonder how long they have to be in business though. And I thought that the date was the 15th of July for the court date.