(Photo GA Rite Aid store in the heart of Jackson Heights is closing down, the latest in a string of company closures across Queens and the nation (Photo; Google Maps)
Aug. 25, 2022 By Michael Dorgan
A Rite Aid store in the heart of Jackson Heights is closing down, the latest in a wave of locations the company is closing across Queens and the nation.
The Rite Aid store at 82-13 37th Ave. will shutter for good early next month as part of a corporate restructuring plan where nearly 150 stores across the country are slated to close, a company spokesperson told the Queens/Jackson Heights Post.
The spokesperson did not specify why the 37th Avenue store was selected to close but did note that the closures are based on a number of reasons.
“A decision to close a store is one we take very seriously and is based on a variety of factors including business strategy, lease and rent considerations, local business conditions and viability, and store performance,” the company said in a statement. Rite Aid has issued the same general statement for all of its recent store closures in Queens.
The company said it is taking measures to ensure customers will receive their prescriptions. The nearest Rite Aid store is located nearly half a mile away at 85-10 Northern Blvd., although there is also another Rite Aid on the corner of 37th Avenue and Junction Boulevard which is around 3/4 of a mile away.
“We review every neighborhood to ensure our customers will have access to health services, be it at Rite Aid or a nearby pharmacy, and we work to seamlessly transfer their prescriptions so there is no disruption of services,” the company said in the statement.
There are 41 staff members currently working at the store, 32 of whom belong to a union, the spokesperson said. The workers were notified about the closure last week.
The company said it is making every effort to find new roles for the affected workers.
The Rite Aid store at 46-12 Greenpoint Ave. in Sunnyside, pictured, closed in April (Photo: Nina Sityar)
The closure will add to a growing list of Rite Aid stores shuttering in Queens.
For instance, the Rite Aid store at 46-12 Greenpoint Ave. in Sunnyside closed in April while the Rite Aid branch at 71-14 Austin St. in Forest Hills closed in May.
Two Rite Aids in Astoria have also closed this year – a store at 32-14 31st St. and at 32-87 Steinway St.
Rite Aid is not the only pharmacy chain closing locations in Queens.
In February, Walgreens, closed its 47-07 Broadway store in Astoria and its Bayside location at 39-20 Bell Blvd.
However, Walgreens will open a new store in the Queens Plaza section of Long Island City this fall.
A Walgreens store is expected to open in the Queens Plaza section of Long Island City this fall (Photo Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
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2 Comments
If store performance factors into the closing then from my own personal experience I can tell you what led to me skipping this Rite Aid I use to visit all of the time before the pandemic.
They close the left side of the store very early, it’s almost always gated by 7pm if not earlier, when it is actually open.. they have a sign that tells you to purchase on the right side for a good portion in the mornings to afternoon, since they don’t have enough workers to man the left side or at least that’s how it looks and feels. The left side contains all groceries, snacks, beverages, alcohol/beer, these are big consumables being left out or ignored by the average new yorker who doesn’t like to waste their time.
Not to mention, they lock all of the cold beer beverages and you have to press a bell in order to get a worker to come unlock it for you, which again reverts me going to the deli across the street to just get my fill quickly.
Management really dropped the ball with these scenarios in my opinion.
As someone who currently works for Rite Aid, I just wanted to say Walgreens does not own Rite Aid. At one time Walgreens was going to buy them out/merge with Rite Aid but the deal didn’t go through. As of right now, Rite Aid is still an independent company.