After 33 years of business in Beverly Hills, the Rite Aid at 463 N. Bedford Drive will close its doors permanently on March 21. The closure is one of 63 announced at the end of last year, after the company reported a net loss from continuing operations of $36.1 million. The move is expected to save the corporation about $25 million per year. While Rite Aid’s lease is set to expire on March 31, 2023, city officials maintain that the closing of this store was not the city’s decision. The Rite Aid located at 300 N. Canon Drive will remain open.
According to Rite Aid employees, the company notified staff on March 7 that its doors will be closing on March 21.
“We expect Rite Aid may sublease or work to negotiate an early termination of the lease,” the city’s Chief Communications Officer Keith Sterling told the Courier. “In either case, we expect Rite Aid to pay the full rent due under the lease. In anticipation of the vacancy, we will take steps to begin marketing the space.”
According to Sterling, the city was ready to begin preliminary talks to renew the lease with Rite Aid on Bedford.
“Like all retail businesses, we regularly review each of our locations to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers, communities and overall business,” the company said in a statement. “During our December Q3 earnings call, we announced that we would be closing 63 stores across the U.S. approximately 2 percent of our total locations. A decision to close a store is one we take very seriously, and those decisions are based on a variety of factors that retail businesses consider such as overarching business strategy, lease and rent considerations, local business conditions and viability, and store performance. We review every neighborhood to assure our customers will have access to health services, be it at Rite Aid or a nearby pharmacy.”
While the Bedford location will no longer exist, Rite Aid is encouraging customers to transfer their prescriptions to the nearby Canon Drive location. As stated by Rite Aid, the company provided associates at this location with other job opportunities at nearby pharmacy locations.
“Rite Aid has been an excellent tenant at this location for more than 30 years and we are disappointed to hear about the closure,” Sterling said.
Nearby boutique pharmacy Mickey Fine is hoping to take on customers left without their drug store of choice. “If you are not a Mickey Fine customer already, please consider breaking free from the chain drug stores and joining us as Rite Aid on Bedford is closing this week,” read a March 14 email.
In response to the announced closure, community members remember the chain drug store fondly. In a March 16 Instagram post, Vice Mayor Lili Bosse remembers the drug store as “a staple in our hometown. We all felt sad when we heard that corporate was closing 63 locations and Bedford is one of them starting March 21. I will always remember running in for greeting cards, candy (yes candy), and just whatever I needed.”
“This is a big loss to the community,” resident Anthony Ferrara told the Courier. “That pharmacy was a good alternative to the Rite Aid on Canon, which is always busy and chaotic. The one on Bedford also provided a good shopping resource, almost like a convenience store, to residents and employees of all the offices and businesses in area.”
