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This former Thrifty in Auburn, CA got a real odd remodel out of Rite Aid last year. They repainted the walls and old Thrifty department signage, installed some undersized looking 90s hanging signs, new aisle hangers, and put new shelves in. They also put in one new checkstand, but kept the other old checkstands.

Before after photos as shown: http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa11 ... ley%20Hwy/

In all of my looking at Rite Aids, I've never seen a remodel like this.

it looks like all they did was repaint the walls and signage.

No, they put up new shelves, new aisle hangers, and new counters in pharmacy and photo. It was more than just repainting...

The weird part of this remodel is how it differs from the "low budget remodels" they were doing in the early 00's. In the early 00's low budget remodels, they generally repainted the walls and installed new decor, but kept the old shelves, counters, etc. Then in the 03-04 period the few stores they remodeled were done extensively (new floors, decor, shelves, lighting, etc.) and did not come off as "low budget" at all.

Maybe they wanted to freshen it up a bit from the now dated Thrifty Decor but not spend much in case they decide down the road the close the store.

What I wonder is where the strange undersized looking 90s era hanging signs came from. I'm sure they were used from a closed store. They closed a very small store in San Francisco a year or two ago, and I'm wondering...

The other odd thing is the very small Thrifty JR. at Kings Beach was remodeled by them in 03-04 and it got large size hanging signs despite being a very, very small store (no more than 4,000 sq ft). http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa11 ... s%20Beach/

But has anyone else ever seen Rite Aid do this kind of a remodel?

I would have to say that the Aisle, wall and other hanging signage with a few exceptions looks like their modern package, as signs identical to these were installed in the brand-new Rite-Aid at the intersection of Platt and Packard Roads in Ann Arbor, MI (Open 5-2008). The Photo sign and the sign with the word Ice Cream on it, do look a bit out of place however. But for the most part from your photo's I am not sure what is unusual about the signage in this remodel. If its those long thin, curved signs, those are part of the standard decor package. If you'd clarify further what you find odd I would appreciate it.

Hi all,

This is moving pretty far afield from anything history-related. If we could re-focus back in that direction, that would be great.

Thanks,
David

I've never seen anything like this, either. Usually these old stores remained untouched until they recieved a total remodel or were closed and replaced with a small standalone store somewhere nearby.

What was on the walls that had the "Rediscover" whatever... slogans on them?

The "rediscover" areas were just blank, nothing left on those walls.

They are closing 4 NorCal Stores (also unremodeled locations). Maybe someone decided it was time to get rid of unremodeled stores.

Is there an article regarding the closures?

I haven't found any articles.

Closures (currentl) are:

2050 Nut Tree Road, Vacaville (former Payless-unremodeled-late 80s interior, much of sales floor blocked off)
1821 Ygnacio Valley, Walnut Creek (former Thrifty-unremodeled)
6345 Commerce, Rohnert Park (former Payless-unremodeled-early 90s interior)
3520 Homestead, Santa Clara (former Thrifty-unremodeled)

17510 Carmenita, Cerritos

4923 E. Colfax Denver, CO

The Rite Aid located at 1821 Ygnacio Valley Rd. is now littered with STORE CLOSING & GOING OUT OF BUSINESS signs. To keep this post history related I will post some photos that show the very much unaltered Thrifty interior this store has retained. There is even a few leftovers from when Walgreens opened this store in 1968!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/2408176498/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/24 ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/24 ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/24 ... otostream/