Walgreens to close 200 stores

[LM117]

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/06/walgreens-to-close-200-stores-in-us.html

[SP Cook]

Walgreen's bought part of the old Rite Aid chain and ended up with a lot of duplicate stores. 

[catch22]

I wouldn't be surprised if my local Walgreens winds up on the list.  Over the last couple of years, they've removed a lot of shelving and have a lot of cardboard fillers on the remaining shelves blocking off even more space.  The difference in inventory between this store and one a couple of miles away is striking.

[vdeane]

What's weird is that of the former Rite Aid locations near me, the nicer one was the one to close.  The one that looked kinda like a dump is the one that remained open (though it does look slightly nicer than it did as Rite Aid, but still not as nice as the one that closed).

[sparker]

My local Walgreens, which opened about 3-4 years ago, always looked like it was "half-done"; the floors are rough concrete and the ceiling is much higher than I've seen in one of their stores.  My guess is that they're eventually going to move it a couple of miles away to the nearest current Rite Aid, which is in a more commercially advantageous location, next to a Safeway, a 24-hour gym, and a couple of restaurants; the Walgreens I cited is in a relatively new business cluster that has had problems renting out space; most of it is still vacant after that many years.   

[jp the roadgeek]

My town has 1 Walgreens location and had 2 Rite Aid locations which both closed after the Rite Aid purchase.  One of the Rite Aids was run down and only a half mile from the Walgreens that was built from the ground up 15 years ago.  The other Rite Aid was less than 10 years old and in a prime location right by an interstate entrance.  It was located on the same road about half way between the remaining store and a location in the next town (it's about 7 miles between the open ones).  Meanwhile, the town south of me has two Rite Aids about 2 miles apart on the same road (incidentally, the same road as all of these), and both are still open.

[ClassicHasClass]

There's a Walgreens right across the street from a Rite-Aid here. The Rite-Aid is a dump by comparison, but they both seem to have decent foot traffic. My wife prefers CVS though.

[LM117]

There's a Walgreens right across the street from a Rite-Aid here. The Rite-Aid is a dump by comparison, but they both seem to have decent foot traffic. My wife prefers CVS though.

A lot of people here in Danville prefer CVS also, it seems. There's a CVS and a Walgreens across the road from each other at the intersection of US-29 Business and VA-41. Walgreens is usually a ghost town while CVS stays packed. There's been times that I've walked in that Walgreens and I'm the only customer there. I'll be surprised if it's not on the chopping block.

In Goldsboro, NC where I grew up, both Rite Aid stores closed after the Walgreens buyout. I remember when the Rite Aid at the corner of Berkeley Boulevard and Ash Street used to be an Eckerd.

[inkyatari]

Walgreen's bought part of the old Rite Aid chain and ended up with a lot of duplicate stores.

I'm an employee of the W, and as such can't comment on a lot, but this is the third round of closings in the last 4-5  years.  A few years ago we closed a lot (way more than this round) for the merger with either Boots Alliance, or Duane Reade (Can't remember which), then we closed a bunch for the Rite Aid purchases , then of course this.

[kphoger]

Ha!  I just stopped off at Walgreens a minute ago, and I overheard an employee behind the pharmacy counter say "What do you mean, closing 800 stores?"  I thought we were closing 200."  I was walking away and didn't hear the response.

Let the rumors now fly!

[Flint1979]

Walgreens has four locations in my town, Rite Aid has nine locations. Out of Walgreens four locations three of them are either at the same corner as a Rite Aid or within a half mile of a Rite Aid.

The Rite Aid locations around here seem to be more run-down than Walgreens locations. One Rite Aid located at E. Genesee and Hess has part of the marquee and sign worn by the sun and it's been that way for years.

[hbelkins]

Rite Aid is the only chain drug store in many small towns in Kentucky and West Virginia. Most of them have seen only the pharmacy convert to Walgreens since the takeover, and not the stores themselves. (That's said to be coming but not anytime soon). Walgreens is typically found only in larger towns, and many of them have been built recently (within the last 10 years or so). I'm guessing that the company will probably close Rite Aid stores in places where RAs and Walgreens are in close proximity, unless the RA buildings are newer.

[Rothman]

There's a Walgreen's and Rite Aid kitty corner to each other where I live.  I wonder how that works.  The Rite Aid seems to market its more general merchandise while the Walgreen's markets its pharmacy. 

[inkyatari]

Rite Aid is the only chain drug store in many small towns in Kentucky and West Virginia. Most of them have seen only the pharmacy convert to Walgreens since the takeover, and not the stores themselves. (That's said to be coming but not anytime soon). Walgreens is typically found only in larger towns, and many of them have been built recently (within the last 10 years or so). I'm guessing that the company will probably close Rite Aid stores in places where RAs and Walgreens are in close proximity, unless the RA buildings are newer.

It depends, because W didn't buy ALL of Rite-Aid, just most of the company.

[SP Cook]

It depends, because W didn't buy ALL of Rite-Aid, just most of the company.

I have never found a comprehensive list of which Rite-Aids Walgreen's bought, nor of what the eventual brand name plans are.  Although I am pretty sure that the WV and eastern KY locations HB was referring to were part of the Walgreen's part of the deal.

As of right now, as I understand it, Walgreen's bought most of Rite Aid.  In my area some Rite Aid's have closed and the remaining ones have had their pharmacy department's rebranded as "Walgreen's pharmacy inside Rite Aid". 

The remainder of Rite Aid was supposed to be bought by the grocery chain Albertson's, which would rebrand its in store pharmacies as "Rite Aid" and also operate the stand alone stores Walgreen's didn't buy as "Rite Aid", but apparently this was voted down by the stockholders and the remnant Rite Aid is now an independent company.

It seems very confusing to have two unrelated companies with the same name, although not unpresicedented (Standard Oil, Bell, and, for a time, Albertson's) but there seems to be no announced plan of when Walgreen's has to relabel its stores.

[hbelkins]

It depends, because W didn't buy ALL of Rite-Aid, just most of the company.

I have never found a comprehensive list of which Rite-Aids Walgreen's bought, nor of what the eventual brand name plans are.  Although I am pretty sure that the WV and eastern KY locations HB was referring to were part of the Walgreen's part of the deal.

The Kentucky ones that I'm familiar with are part of this deal. They've already converted their pharmacies to Walgreen's, the techs are wearing Walgreen's apparel, etc. I know of at least one Rite Aid that closed because it was in close proximity to a newer Walgreen's (Richmond).

[inkyatari]

It depends, because W didn't buy ALL of Rite-Aid, just most of the company.

I have never found a comprehensive list of which Rite-Aids Walgreen's bought, nor of what the eventual brand name plans are.  Although I am pretty sure that the WV and eastern KY locations HB was referring to were part of the Walgreen's part of the deal.

The Kentucky ones that I'm familiar with are part of this deal. They've already converted their pharmacies to Walgreen's, the techs are wearing Walgreen's apparel, etc. I know of at least one Rite Aid that closed because it was in close proximity to a newer Walgreen's (Richmond).

I probably could get such a list, but I couldn't share the info if I did.

[vdeane]

It depends, because W didn't buy ALL of Rite-Aid, just most of the company.

I have never found a comprehensive list of which Rite-Aids Walgreen's bought, nor of what the eventual brand name plans are.  Although I am pretty sure that the WV and eastern KY locations HB was referring to were part of the Walgreen's part of the deal.

As of right now, as I understand it, Walgreen's bought most of Rite Aid.  In my area some Rite Aid's have closed and the remaining ones have had their pharmacy department's rebranded as "Walgreen's pharmacy inside Rite Aid". 

The remainder of Rite Aid was supposed to be bought by the grocery chain Albertson's, which would rebrand its in store pharmacies as "Rite Aid" and also operate the stand alone stores Walgreen's didn't buy as "Rite Aid", but apparently this was voted down by the stockholders and the remnant Rite Aid is now an independent company.

It seems very confusing to have two unrelated companies with the same name, although not unpresicedented (Standard Oil, Bell, and, for a time, Albertson's) but there seems to be no announced plan of when Walgreen's has to relabel its stores.

They're slowly converting.  Around here, the pharmacies converted when the deal happened, and within the past few months all the Rite Aid stores have either fully converted or closed.

[ftballfan]

If the MI Rite Aids are part of the deal, I would expect both Ludington and Manistee Rite Aids to close as in both cities, Walgreens is newer and in a better location (especially in Manistee; Rite Aid is at the end of a dead strip mall while Walgreens caused a lot of controversy [more than Meijer] when it came to town due to its location)

[jeffandnicole]

If the MI Rite Aids are part of the deal, I would expect both Ludington and Manistee Rite Aids to close as in both cities, Walgreens is newer and in a better location (especially in Manistee; Rite Aid is at the end of a dead strip mall while Walgreens caused a lot of controversy [more than Meijer] when it came to town due to its location)

Which ones make money?  Which ones are in better positions to draw in people?

The people making the decisions about which stores to keep open and closed are in their Deerfield, Illinois headquarters.  They're not looking at past histories in front of planning and zoning boards.  They're not even looking at which stores are in newer buildings.   They're looking at numbers - which stores perform better; which ones are cheaper to own, rent, lease and maintain.

To use one example near me, when Rite Aid took over Eckerd Drugs, there were 2 stores within a half mile.  The much newer one was larger and located at a busy intersection; the older one was smaller and at a less busy intersection.  They kept the smaller one open because it was just outside a large trailer home park where people could walk to it, and other developments nearby.  Location-wise, the less busy intersection made that store easier to get to. 

Also, when they say 200 stores, that's an average of 4 per state.  Obviously there's going to be more in California and New York than Alaska and Montana, but on average, most cities and regions may experience the loss of 1 store at most.  It'll sound bad on paper, and if someone lives near a store they don't want their store closing, but overall this is more going to be an internet-rage issue where most people aren't affected whatsoever.

[LM117]

63 more Rite Aid stores will be closing.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/21/business/rite-aid-store-closures/index.html

[tolbs17]

Well, Rite Aid doesn't exist here in the south anymore so I'm sure that's in the north.

[ClassicHasClass]

Funny. Here it was the Walgreens that closed (the Rite-Aid got most of its stock).