Rite-Aid Sign Replacements for Acquired Chains

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GothicPrincess
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Post by GothicPrincess »

East Pittsburgh St, Greensburg PA finally changed the store sign out front about 4-5 days ago

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12675558@N02/1902320851/
TenPoundHammer
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Post by TenPoundHammer »

When Rite Aid bought out Perry Drugs of Pontiac, Michigan in 1995, I seem to remember that the ex-Perry locations all got plain white signs with "RITE AID PHARMACY" in plain red lettering. (Perry had a red, white and blue color scheme, so none of these stores got remodeled when the name changed.) If I remember correctly, Perry's signage consisted of a big red "P" followed by "Perry" in blue letters, in a rectangle. Other stores had the red "P" in a rectangle, with "Perry Drug Stores" underneath.

The only exception I can think of was a former Perry in East Tawas, which actually opened in the 1950s or 1960s as a local chain called Gould's Rexall. I remember that this one had a very odd, two-room layout as if it had been expanded; the pharmacy section was in one "room" and general merchandise was in the other "room", with an entrance and checkouts at the front and back. This location was wedged into downtown between a bar and a clump of local stores.

If I remember correctly, it was a wood trimmed store which got the traditional "Rite Aid" pentagonal logo when it became a Rite Aid. (I also remember riding my bike to this store once and drinking five or six bottles of Pepsi in the parking lot, because I somehow managed to get several bottles of pop in a row that all said "you win a free Pepsi" on the cap.)

What was odd was the fact that both East Tawas and Oscoda had Rite Aid and Perry, so when Perry got bought out in 1995, we both ended up with two Rite Aids within a mile of each other! Around 1997-1998, the duplicates were all replaced with new, bland Rite Aids on corners.

The former Gould's->Perry->Rite Aid in East Tawas is now a furniture store (except for its rear entry, which got cobbled onto the adjacent bar), while the Perry-turned-Rite Aid in Oscoda has been vacant for a decade. (The whole plaza has been vacant for over a year now.)

As for the older Rite Aids (the ones that opened as Rite Aid), both were the kind that had the cool rainbow stripes down the side walls. The East Tawas location had red-orange stripes in the tiles, but the Oscoda one (which opened in 1990) did not. East Tawas is now a Family Dollar, with the original Rite Aid floor tiles (but no rainbow stripes), while Oscoda is now occupied by a local rent-to-own center. The right half of the store is their selling space, while the left half is used for storage. If you look through the front window, you can see into the storage area -- the rainbow stripes from Rite Aid are still intact on that side!

I always thought that Rite Aid and Perry were cool stores -- I remember Perry having a cool selection of candy that I couldn't find elsewhere. Old school Perry and Rite Aid stores always had a certain je ne sans quoi to them -- a certain kind of feel that I can't seem to duplicate today even in the older locations.
krogerclerk
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Post by krogerclerk »

The signage on the local Eckerd(Dalton,GA) was converted to Rite Aid about three weeks ago with Rite Aid retaining the Eckerd pill sign, white with blue lettering. The store is the typical free-standing Eckerd design of the mid-90's as shown in several previous posts. Oddly, the register receipts still say Eckerd Drugs despite the register display screens saying " Eckerd is now Rite Aid." The interior is unchanged with the signage at the pharmacy saying Eckerd Pharmacy and Eckerd One Hour Photo in the photo processing center. An admixture of Eckerd, Eckerd/Brooks and Rite Aid private label brands are being sold. The Eckerd/Brooks brands began appearing less than 2 years ago and never completely replaced the existing Eckerd brand. Evidently Jean Contu was and now Rite Aid is selling through existing packaging rather than removing prior private labels the way CVS has with its former Eckerd, Osco, and Sav-on Drugstore locations that it has acquired.
tkaye
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Post by tkaye »

krogerclerk wrote:Oddly, the register receipts still say Eckerd Drugs despite the register display screens saying " Eckerd is now Rite Aid." The interior is unchanged with the signage at the pharmacy saying Eckerd Pharmacy and Eckerd One Hour Photo in the photo processing center. ... An admixture of Eckerd, Eckerd/Brooks and Rite Aid private label brands are being sold. The Eckerd/Brooks brands began appearing less than 2 years ago and never completely replaced the existing Eckerd brand. Evidently Jean Contu was and now Rite Aid is selling through existing packaging rather than removing prior private labels the way CVS has with its former Eckerd, Osco, and Sav-on Drugstore locations that it has acquired.
This is similar to the way Rite Aid handled the transition of the Puget Sound-area PayLess stores they acquired in 1997. They tried to "soften" their entrance in the market by introducing the Rite Aid name in a manner similar to Macy's more recent rebranding efforts of the old Federated and May stores.

Rite Aid first made their mark by hanging banners on the outside of stores that said "PayLess is now a Rite Aid Pharmacy." Their ad circulars, bags, and pharmacy pamphlets also carried this interim combination of logos. (Sometimes Thrifty PayLess appeared on materials that weren't market specific.) At the time, their slogan was "For your life, Rite Aid's got it." For the newly acquired markets, they modified this to the clumsy "For your life, Thrifty PayLess has got it." Rite Aid installed their POS terminals (which they still use today) as soon as the banners went up outside. The combination PayLess/Rite Aid insignia was used on receipts.

Private-label merchandise was handled exactly as they are doing with Eckerd... old Thrifty PayLess products were shelved up front with the new Rite Aid items placed behind as they came in. Some of the PayLess merchandise stuck around for a long time... I think after a year or so, they finally put the remaining odds and ends in markdown bins.

New exterior signage came several months after the transition period. While the signs were installed, stores that were marked for closure simply had the temporary banner placed directly over the old PayLess signs instead... a clear sign that their days at these locations were numbered. The interiors didn't get reworked for at least three or four years in most cases... some of the more raggedy looking stores still haven't been remodeled -- the PayLess logos that couldn't be removed have simply been covered up with Rite Aid stickers.
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Daniel
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Post by Daniel »

I recall the Payless Super Drug in Clovis, Ca had the Payless logos removed from the interior, but the stripe of pink paint had faded so badly you could still see Payless on the wall even though the lettering had been removed. (They did not put up a Rite Aid logo to replace the Payless, rather it said "Thank You For Shopping..." with a blank spot)
Roadsidepictures
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Re: Rite-Aid Sign Replacements for Acquired Chains

Post by Roadsidepictures »

Here's a 1988 Payless/Rite Aid location in Henderson...

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I shot this picture in 2006

It's a real time capsule inside retaining the original Payless interior. I'll try to sneak some shots when I go in. The place is always like a ghost town.
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J-Mac
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Re: Rite-Aid Sign Replacements for Acquired Chains

Post by J-Mac »

Don't take too long getting those inside pictures there Roadside, Rite Aid has announced its intention to exit the Las Vegas market.

Yahoo news clip:
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080104/20080104005426.html?.v=1
Roadsidepictures
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Re: Rite-Aid Sign Replacements for Acquired Chains

Post by Roadsidepictures »

Yeah, I'm hoping to get down there this week sometime. We've got a bunch of Rite Aid stores that I'd like to shoot.
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Re: Rite-Aid Sign Replacements for Acquired Chains

Post by Roadsidepictures »

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Toby Radloff
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Re: Rite-Aid Sign Replacements for Acquired Chains

Post by Toby Radloff »

While just the reverse of this topic, when CVS took over several Rite Aid stores in the Columbus, OH area, after Rite Aid pulled out of that market, they replaced the blue "RITE AID" awnings on several of the stores with red "CVS/pharmacy" awnings...these are on the free standing stores with the diamond-shaped side windows. Except for the CVS signage, they still look like Rite Aids. In Canton, OH, Rite Aid took over several CVS stores after they left the Canton/Massillon/Alliance area. Rite Aid simply replaced the "CVS/pharmacy" signage with "RITE AID" signage, on buildings that still obviously look like CVS and Revco buildings.
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storewanderer
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Re: Rite-Aid Sign Replacements for Acquired Chains

Post by storewanderer »

The North Carson City, NV and Sun Valley, NV Longs have diamond windows as well, showing their former Rite Aid heritage.

I'd also venture a guess that CVS actually remodeled the stores they took, while the stores Rite Aid took look identical to the previous occupant inside?
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Roadsidepictures
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Re: Rite-Aid Sign Replacements for Acquired Chains

Post by Roadsidepictures »

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This is the Rite Aid on Fremont Street and Eastern Avenue in Las Vegas.
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Re: Rite-Aid Sign Replacements for Acquired Chains

Post by luckysaver »

The Rowland Heights store (Nogales and Colima), Diamond Bar (Diamond Bar at 57 Freeway) West Covina store (Amar and Azusa) both sported old cursive-style Thrifty logos inside the store in the form of aisle signs or wall labelscars (as in "Thank You For Shopping at (oval labelscar)" for at least 5 years until these stores were all remodeled. Rowland was the most preserved of the old 1970's interior Thrifty Drugs in my area until late 2007 when the interior was completely renovated and the front entrance moved to create an angle entrance. The only things from old Thrifty left standing at Rowland now is the Spanish-tile roof and the tall red oval sign on Colima Road.

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Ephrata1966
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Re: Rite-Aid Sign Replacements for Acquired Chains

Post by Ephrata1966 »

Some former Eckerd building signs were replaced by ugly "flat" Rite Aid signs. What is also odd is that in some cases, if the Eckerd had a rare red sign, the Rite Aid sign is blue. Example: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62355920@N00/4059339321/

After all, Rite Aid's colors are red and blue.
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