Rite Aids with Pay 'n Save interiors

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marshd1000
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Rite Aids with Pay 'n Save interiors

Post by marshd1000 »

Currently I am on a trip to Bellingham, WA. So last night as I was driving through the downtown area, I passed a Rite Aid. Not too unusual around these parts to see a Rite Aid that had been a Pay 'n Save and/or Payless. But as I was driving by, I could see that is sported the green and blue late 1980's early 90's Pay 'n Save decor package. I know that Payless Drug did have a number of stores that were never remodeled to look like Payless. But I had thought that Rite Aid had remodeled all of the stores that looked like Pay 'n Save by now. Anyone know of any other locations that still look like Pay ' n Save?
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storewanderer
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Re: Rite Aids with Pay 'n Save interiors

Post by storewanderer »

I think there is one along Pacific Highway about 10 minutes south of the SeaTac Airport... no idea what town it is in. East side of the road.

It has been on my "to check" list when I have time but it is usually a real crunch there. I believe that time will come in a few weeks.
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marshd1000
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Re: Rite Aids with Pay 'n Save interiors

Post by marshd1000 »

I think that store you are talking about is technically on the Kent side of Pacific Highway South. Des Moines would be on the west side of the road. But i will have to check that out!
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Re: Rite Aids with Pay 'n Save interiors

Post by Brian Lutz »

There's a former Rite Aid store at Totem Lake Mall in Kirkland (later turned into a fly-by-night furniture place) that still seems to have the blue and green stripes from the original Pay N Save decor on the walls.
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Re: Rite Aids with Pay 'n Save interiors

Post by Super S »

While not a full-blown Pay 'N Save, The Kelso, WA store retains some elements of Thrifty, Pay 'N save, and PayLess. The Pharmacy remains in the same location at the center rear of the store, since the Thrifty days. The checkstands are clearly from Pay 'N Save and have their blue and green colors. And the walls still have the PayLess pink and grey colors on the wall, from sometime in the 1990s?

And I have to mention the Tigard, Oregon location again as it is an unremodeled (since Rite Aid took over) PayLess which was built in the 1970s. It still even has the lighted PHARMACY sign that was common in PayLess stores of that era. It appears PayLess did repaint the walls at one point, but you can clearly tell it wasn't originally Rite Aid.
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Re: Rite Aids with Pay 'n Save interiors

Post by Super S »

marshd1000 wrote:I think that store you are talking about is technically on the Kent side of Pacific Highway South. Des Moines would be on the west side of the road. But i will have to check that out!
I think I drove by that one on my way home from Seattle today. Due to a huge traffic jam on I-5 I took Pacific Highway from Federal Way to Tacoma. I saw a Rite Aid in an older shopping center, which is a bit run-down looking, that looked like it also had a closed and currently vacant Albertsons. Des Moines area maybe? No time to stop though.
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Re: Rite Aids with Pay 'n Save interiors

Post by Super S »

The remaining Pay 'N Save/PayLess interiors may be changing soon. The Kelso store I mentioned recently advertised a grand re-opening of some sort. While I have not been inside yet, it's safe to assume that the walls have probably been repainted, and possibly new flooring etc.

I also visited a store in Sherwood, Oregon within the past week (former PayLess) that was undergoing a remodel. One whole side of the store had new sheetrock going up, almost as if the wall was moved to make the store smaller. It also had new flooring.

While I enjoy seeing the unremodeled stores in a historical sense, Rite Aid has struggled in the Northwest, and perhaps doing some updating will help keep them in business. Using shelves to block off sections of unremodeled and old-looking stores doesn't bring in customers, and some of them are VERY tired looking. Rite Aid inherited many larger stores from Pay 'N Save and PayLess, and some have received nice remodels, while others have received almost nothing in at least 15 years. In the case of the unremodeled Pay 'N Save interiors, it has been even longer than that. Walgreens has expanded aggressively in that period with mostly brand new stores, and with rumors swirling of CVS entering the northwest, Rite Aid is smart to do some updating to try to regain market share before CVS (or others) move in.
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Re: Rite Aids with Pay 'n Save interiors

Post by Super S »

I realize this is an old thread, but I wonder if any of these are left? Rite Aid has been stepping up remodels on many of the older stores. That store in Kent on Pacific Highway South (if it is the same one mentioned earlier in this thread) appears to have closed, and now has some pretty stout looking barricades on all the windows, so it's hard to tell if it was remodeled.
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