Rite Aid is (officially) DEAD to ME

And yet Target lives🎯

Maybe Marc Loomis can resurrect the chain into RITE AID and BEYOND - but no stores in CA.

My doctor’s RX were sent to the rite aid Nextdoor to me. Now I hike a mile to the CVS with is totally third world. Fuck the Riteaid.

I was a regular customer up to the end but they were clearly struggling the last couple years. Barren shelves or stocked only with cases of drinking water or generic paper towels or toilet paper. I don’t even think their in-house brand was manufacturing anything. My store stopped carrying candy bars, gum and other typical cash register items. What items they did carry were mostly locked up but that might have just been a SoCal thing. You could see the writing on the wall. Now I’m stuck at a really shitty Walgreens

The Rite Aid near me has had mostly bare shelves for at least two years. How can you become profitable again if you are not selling anything, and you are losing you faithful customers?

We'll always have

There was that weird cultural moment maybe 15 years ago when drugstore chains were literally everywhere, on every corner, it was very bizarre.

R6, they all closed in my area too

R7 Yes, you're right, I remember.

R7 - and banklettes - little tiny bank branches.

They deserved to die because they couldn't spell the word "right" right.

And another one bites the dust!

I've always HATED them for killing my beloved K&B Drugstores and Eckerd Drugstores.

Fuck 'em, I'm GLAD they're dead, and I hope they lost a ton of money.

r13 And Californians hate them for taking over Thrifty.

Then, R14 please join me in an alcoholic drink salute to the well deserved death of Rong Aid--Cheers!

Rite Aid came into RI and bought up the chain of Brooks Drugs in the mid-80s. They then started building / opening stores everywhere, oversaturating the market - really going after RI's "CVS" chain. About 15 years ago Walgreen's bought them out in RI, and started closing stores where they 'overlapped' with other Walgreen's. Some of the former RA buildings were sold off to 'Family Dollar' and 'Dollar Tree' chains.

[Quote] They deserved to die because they couldn't spell the word "right" right.

No no, dearheart, they were originally set up to sell all the artifacts one needs to conduct Satanic rites — so spelled correctly.

But then pharmaceuticals proved even more evil, and they quietly phased out the devil stuff.

Was it as bad as CVS or worse?

It was better IMO

We should all be concerned that there are fewer and fewer options for pharmacies.

Then again, under RFK jr, most medications cause austism and vaccines are unnecessary, so we won't need pharmacies.

Trump and his administration are a chain of fools.

R14 At least for those who still want Thrifty Ice Cream (which Rite Aid had continued to sell), the brand has now moved to local supermarkets like Vons and Ralphs.

Rite Aid’s aisle signs said “Pop” no matter where they were. I found it odd here in SoCal, a strictly “soda” region.

And yes, fuck them for taking over Thrifty. And fuck CVS for taking over Long’s Drugstores.

If you "flood the zone" this is what happens.

We hate them in Washington for buying out Bartell 5 years ago...then, Rite Aid promptly went in the toilet.

Now, fucking CVS took over.

So, basically in this country we have two main chains: fucking CVS and even worse, fucking Walgreens.

Rite-Aid in my San Diego neighborhood was shuttered in June 2025.

[quote] There was that weird cultural moment maybe 15 years ago when drugstore chains were literally everywhere, on every corner, it was very bizarre.

Yeah, starting around 2000 there was a big expansion of the sort of "superstore" pharmacy. Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid all tried to be mini Walmarts with pharmacy, beauty and grocery items. But I think that expansion was part of what drove Rite Aid into bankruptcy.

Hey bitches, I'm still alive and kickin'.

[quote]There was that weird cultural moment maybe 15 years ago when drugstore chains were literally everywhere, on every corner, it was very bizarre.

[quote]They then started building / opening stores everywhere, oversaturating the market

This was really the problem, and it wasn't just Rite Aid. I once lived in a place where there were at least 3 CVS' within a 5 minute drive, and then two grocery stores with pharmacies, and a Super Walmart not too much further. There is an upper limit on how many prescriptions people need, plus people generally only shop for regular stuff at pharmacies (food, candy, etc.) if they are desperate as the prices are so much higher than a grocery store.

The good thing about Rite Aid closing is those people can go to CVS/Walgreens/Kroger/Walmart, etc. Every pharmacy I go to is chronically understaffed.

The closed ones in my area have all been converted into Dollar Generals, which are now found on every block.

R5, so true. I would drive 3 miles to the Rite Aid in the Valley Village area rather than my neighborhood Rite Aid because the place was cleaner and fully stocked with merchandise I couldn't find at the other location. But for the past couple of years, the shelves were practically empty and the usual sundries I would buy were never in stock, so I stopped shopping there.

I believe all those multimillion dollar opioid lawsuits made them insolvent.

r22 But do they scooped ice cream? I think not!

RIP, Wrong Aid

Rite Aid got so far in debt - the empty shelves were because no supplier wanted to send them product because their debt load was so heavy there was no guarantee they'd pay for it. That's why at the end the only thing stocked other than the pharmacy was some of their own products and a bit of the "dollar store" stuff they had.

About six years ago Rite Aid closed two old and dated inline stores near me, and opened a new free standing one. It was beautiful and I loved it. I always went there for flu and Covid shots too. Plus I loved the “Higi” machines they all had to check and track my blood pressure over time.

First sign of decay was when they started locking everything up. I absolutely refuse to buy anything that is locked up, so that’s an immediate lost purchase from me. Then, as others mentioned, the devoid and empty shelves of recent times were beyond depressing. This particular store closed about a year ago and remains vacant.

A shame. Pre Covid I had close to a dozen stores within about 3-5 miles of my house. All remnants of the Thrifty and SavOns I grew up with are now gone.

As recently as 2 years ago, I had 4 Rite-Aids within a 2 mile radius of my home, including one directly across the street from my apartment building.

I miss that store so much. It was so convenient to go over there when I ran out of milk or bread, or needed a birthday card. Unfortunately, my prescription plan did not include Rite-Aid on the approved list.

Where will I get my Medieval Madness?!?

[quote] First sign of decay was when they started locking everything up. I absolutely refuse to buy anything that is locked up, so that’s an immediate lost purchase from me.

R35 Where do you go then? .. I'm in the L.A. area, and CVS, Walgreens, Target, Walmart, etc. all have certain sundries and health & beauty products locked up now. I was at Lowe's last week, and they have laundry detergent locked up. I was like, WTF?

I try to avoid the items I think are locked up by adding them to orders for things I'm ordering online.

The way meds are distributed in this country is such an absurdity and an inefficient pain in the ass anyway.

Why don't we just get them mailed to us

R38 this is a little old but explains the laundry detergent thing

[quote]Where do you go then? .. I'm in the L.A. area, and CVS, Walgreens, Target, Walmart, etc. all have certain sundries and health & beauty products locked up now.

You have to go to a white neighborhood.

R38 Target by me isn’t too aggressive in locking things up, otherwise I’ll go online. Sam’s Club is another good option.

I've been trying not to shop at Target with the boycott, but I have to a few times a year, since the closest Walmart has a significant amount of stuff locked up.

R38, The Ralphs all around the SF Valley have sectioned off detergents, vitamins, medicines, and various sundries, forcing customers to pay before leaving the section, and paying a second time for groceries at the main checkstands. Annoying.

It was LBO'd in the 90s and never recovered.

*sad trombone*

[quote]I've always HATED them for killing my beloved K&B

That's right, I had forgotten. "YeahYouRite" Aid.

Have you people never heard of Amazon?

R38 That’s brutal. I’m in Long Beach and haven’t seen anything like that going on here. I think tide pods are locked up at my Vons, and things like razor blades and some more expensive creams, etc. But I get most of all that stuff at Sam’s or online.

R47, some of us boycott Amazon.

[quote] At least for those who still want Thrifty Ice Cream (which Rite Aid had continued to sell), the brand has now moved to local supermarkets like Vons and Ralphs.

Yes, but it wasn't really the ice cream product itself that was the draw. In my small California college town Thrifty had the old-fashioned ice cream counter in 1970. The ice cream scoop was square. It cost a nickel. When Rite Aid took it over in the nineties they kept the counter for awhile. I am very old.

Walgreens is familiar but expensive. I’ll say when I travels to Puerto Rico, I went into one and it was exactly the same store as time mainland which was nice since in PR stores aren’t as consistent.

Traveled* not travels oh dear

R50 has it right. It was all about the ice cream counter, the square scoop and the price that made it a treat. Also getting a coupon for a free cone every time you got a vaccine.

Only thing R50 has wrong is in saying Rite Aid kept the counters “for a while”. They were there right up until the final day the store shut down. Never left.

R48. I’m in Long Beach too. My Ralphs just added two aisles to their store-in-a-store. Instead of personal care items only, now it includes laundry sundries in the lock-up. People opened the jugs of pods and stuffed them in their pockets or purses. I guess the cheap Arm & Hammer detergent wasn’t good enough — they wanted Tide or Persil but didn’t want to pay for it.

The Walmart at Carson/605 started locking up stuff a few years ago. The first time I popped in to get some shaving cream, it was locked up. I left and have never returned. The Sam’s Club in the same complex now uses AI and cameras to scan you and your cart on the way out, no receipt checking, counting IG items, and/or randomly scanning stuff in your cart to match your receipt. I found it surprising; I walked out without any interaction with a human (if you can count the old meth mouth woman checker as human).

I remember visiting the Belmont Shores Rite Aid and getting a Thrifty cone there.

My nearest Walmart has a few cases of diabetes stuff locked up and then literally has an entire section of the store behind a gate. I wouldn't be buying most of the shit in there (mostly higher priced shampoos, makeup, etc.) but unfortunately Q-tips are back there too.

It's always said when a long-running company comes to an end. This will represent a lot of lost jobs and a lot of inconvenienced customers.

R57 said=sad

The only good thing about RA shutting entirely down is that it's been slowly dying like Sears and Kmart for a while now. So most had a good long warning period to switch prescriptions elsewhere, etc.

[quote] It was all about the ice cream counter, the square scoop and the price that made it a treat. Also getting a coupon for a free cone every time you got a vaccine.

When people regret the demise of a company but it's really about good memories. Not mocking you, r50 and r53. I'm just realizing again what moves people. It's not necessarily about a square scoop either - which by itself is such a nothingness and could easily be replicated. But there are so very specific patterns of things and events from the past that makes people feel good. And these patterns cannot just be replicated because then they are not part of the original memory anymore.

R54 Wow, I’m glad I don’t shop at Ralph’s. My Vons (Spring/Woodruff) doesn’t do anything like that. The Sam’s you describe off the 605 is my go-to and does indeed use the AI “arch” exit, and I absolutely love it. Scan and go plus the arch exit is amazing, and no need to deal with things being locked up.

r50 r53 it was NOT square. It was round and FLAT. See the picture at R32

R62 You are correct, apologies. Don’t know why I said square. Flat is the right word.

r63 Maybe you were thinking of Wendy's burgers.

Sir, this is a Rite-Aid.

[quote]R22 At least for those who still want Thrifty Ice Cream (which Rite Aid had continued to sell), the brand has now moved to local supermarkets like Vons and Ralphs.

Noted.

When I was a tot, you could get ice cream cones there for five cents a scoop. Oh happy day!

In MY day, we got CHOLERA with 5 scoops for a NICKEL!!!!

[quote] Sam’s Club is another good option.

Nope. It's owned by Walmart.

R67 These days, I’ll take Wal-Mart over Bezos-Amazon every day. You should too.

^ I don't know if Christy Walton is good enough to make that case, R68. I don't think she is involved with Walmart's business. That would be like supporting Amazon because his ex-wife is a big supporter of Planned Parenthood. Relevant is only what the business does. To be honest I have the hardest time to support the right business because they all are in the cahoots with Trump now.