jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Right!

bcheary Loc: Jacksonville, FL

I made a bunch of money off Rite-Aid stock back in in its early days and got out before it started to go down.

BebuLamar

I always prefer the brick and mortar for everything. I hate buying anything by mail.

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

Most of the Rite-Aid stores were sold to Walgreens several years ago when RiteAid got into financial straits. CVS and Walgreens are the two major pharmacy chains. Rite Aid is a relatively minor player.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

Except for those annoying "How did we do?" questionaires.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Which I mostly ignore.

niteman3d Loc: South Central Pennsylvania, USA

I do believe that's the future, like it or not. Articles I've read cite several reasons for the Rite Aid troubles, but the most bothersome is shoplifting which affects all brick-and-mortar stores to a greater or lesser extent. Stores cannot remain viable in this environment. Amazon has its own problems, but shoplifting isn't one of them.

chrissybabe Loc: New Zealand

With the issues you guys have with porch pirates I am surprised to hear you are happy to receive your meds via courier.
Now I am wondering, with the reluctance you have in going off your properties, whether there might be room for a courier delivered/collected body service ? Something along the lines of a quick delivery for a decent cardboard coffin with packing instructions. Then urgent collection before the smell starts. Plus maybe a certified paper collection system for the death certificate. Not sure if it would work if there was only one of you but a couple or more could save a fortune without hardly having to move off the lounge seat.

DaleBrown

JohnSwanda
Maintenance meds through a mail service is a great service without a doubt. However such as my wife’s medical condition ( liver cancer ) frequent visits to the pharmacy are critical on a daily basis. These visits require chemo treatment side effect meds as well as meds to manage severe pain. Without a brick and mortar or in our case Walmart pharmacy using a mail service would be impossible. And the consultation with the pharmacist is valuable, try that with a mail service when you need help immediately.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

Get all mine at a local grocery store pharmacy. Shop for groceries while prescriptions are being filled. Or, most of mine are auto-filled, and I get a text when they are ready. And no long lines like CVS

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

CVS has the market saturated in my town. They opened a new store two years ago. Within a four mile radius of my house, there are five CVS stores.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Sadly, some stores (in general) in Philadelphia are closing due to the amount of shoplifting at them.....

Dannj

I’ve had several mail order pharmacies over the years and they’ve all had an option to view info including side effect and/or an option to speak to someone to answer questions. There may be a wait to connect with someone but the option is there.

Red6

I think there are several factors at work here concerning pharmacies. I have read several business articles concerning this issue.

Over-saturation is probably one of the biggest issues. Walgreens and CVS are the big players in most parts of the country and have multiple stores located throughout most populated areas. Where I live now there are probably 8 Walgreens and CVS stores within 3-5 miles. I am not a business major but I find it difficult that one could make a business case for opening, stocking, and staffing that many stores so close together. I just cannot see how all those stores, so closely located, can all be profitable. Then in addition to Walgreens and CVS, Walmart, Costco, Sam's, Target and all the grocery stores now have pharmacies making a total of at least 15 walk-in pharmacies within 3-5 miles of my home. Add mail-in pharmacies and the market is definitely over-saturated.

The next issue is theft. This is a much larger problem than most realize. All retail stores are victims of this from Lowes, Home Depot, Target, etc. down to smaller Mom and Pop stores. Customers want convenience and this means making items readily available on shelves which makes the items easy targets for theft. Many high-value items are being locked up or secured in other ways which drives customers away if they cannot touch and feel the items before purchase. This problem is a long way from being solved.

The third issue is staffing. Walgreens reported they are having a hard time hiring staff for their stores, especially pharmacists. Someone else mentioned the pressure and stress that pharmacists are under and this is amplified when understaffed. Pharmacists are working longer hours just to barely keep up. The workload on pharmacists has also increased due to the increased number of vaccinations now being given at most pharmacies.

I think what is going on now is a reduction of the number of stores and maybe consolidation of stores into larger more efficient locations which would allow better use of staff and inventory. Mail-order pharmacy's business may increase even more since those workers can be more efficient since they do not need to interact with customers on a constant basis during the day. The smaller pharmacies will also suffer as they scramble for customers and staffing.

W9OD Loc: Wisconsin

Apparently Rite Aid isn’t the only one having problems. CVS is closing some stores, and the proverbial Pharmacy on every corner is closing some as well. Guess they all over developed.