Rite Aid "Corner" stores
Posted: 24 Oct 2009 19:21
When did Rite Aid start building its ubiquitous standalone "corner" stores? From what I can tell, they seem to date from the late 80s at least.
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v ... &encType=1
This store (901 W. Midland St. in Bay City) is the first type of corner-style Rite Aid that I've seen. I know this store dates from at least 1990, as my November 1990 Tri-Cities phone book lists it. It has the rainbow-colored stripes down the walls like older stores did. I think the stripes started in the 1980s or so.
The first Rite Aid here in Oscoda opened in 1990 in a strip mall slot — it didn't have a corner entrance or the blue "peak" over the entry, and it was a plain grey brick instead of the smooth tan walls of the Bay City store above, although it did have the rainbow stripes. Both this and a short-lived Rite Aid in a former Perry closer to downtown closed in 1997 when a new "corner" store opened about halfway between.
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v ... &encType=1
This is, by far, the most common "corner" type of Rite Aid, this one being Fenton Road at Bristol Road in Flint. I'm still bummed that the Ambassador Coney Island was torn down for it.
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v ... &encType=1
And this is a very old store on Jenner Drive in Allegan. I thought for sure this was a former Perry, but it wasn't. I have no idea how old this style is; probably 1970s. It almost looks like it might have began its life as some supermarket.
And finally, this is the current Rite Aid prototype, showing up in the past two or three years.
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v ... &encType=1
This store (901 W. Midland St. in Bay City) is the first type of corner-style Rite Aid that I've seen. I know this store dates from at least 1990, as my November 1990 Tri-Cities phone book lists it. It has the rainbow-colored stripes down the walls like older stores did. I think the stripes started in the 1980s or so.
The first Rite Aid here in Oscoda opened in 1990 in a strip mall slot — it didn't have a corner entrance or the blue "peak" over the entry, and it was a plain grey brick instead of the smooth tan walls of the Bay City store above, although it did have the rainbow stripes. Both this and a short-lived Rite Aid in a former Perry closer to downtown closed in 1997 when a new "corner" store opened about halfway between.
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v ... &encType=1
This is, by far, the most common "corner" type of Rite Aid, this one being Fenton Road at Bristol Road in Flint. I'm still bummed that the Ambassador Coney Island was torn down for it.
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v ... &encType=1
And this is a very old store on Jenner Drive in Allegan. I thought for sure this was a former Perry, but it wasn't. I have no idea how old this style is; probably 1970s. It almost looks like it might have began its life as some supermarket.
And finally, this is the current Rite Aid prototype, showing up in the past two or three years.