Back in the USSR at Rite Aid…
It’s been a tough week, so I’m in the mood to air my grievances as a grouchy consumer. What is the retail outlet of my discontent? Rite Aid (RAD), which filed its third quarter 10-Q Wednesday, detailing continued losses.
Within a few blocks of my home in New York City, I can purchase croissants rivaling those found in Paris, $150 doggie sweaters in a variety of colors, and all the truffles I can eat. However, finding basic cleaning supplies or one’s preferred brand of toilet paper can sometimes be a challenge. The most convenient place to pick up such items has been a nearby Eckerd drugstore, always clean and well-stocked. So back in 2006, when I heard Rite Aid was buying the Brooks Eckerd chain from the Jean Coutu Group, my heart sank. There were already two Rite Aid stores within minutes of my home, both suffering chronically from Soviet Economy Syndrome, in which various household staples vanish from the shelves for days on end.
According to Rite Aid’s Q, it’s been busy working on a post-acquisition process that involves “replacement of the Brooks Eckerd store systems with our store systems.” Looks like that’s moving along well, at least in my neck of the woods; earlier this week, when I ran out to my local Eckerd-turned-Rite Aid, I found it fully Sovietized. Two lonely packages of toilet paper sat on otherwise bare shelves in the paper goods section. And was there a single bottle of dishwashing liquid in the joint? Nyet. (The firm says it will make about $300M in capital expenditures during fiscal 2008 on further “integration” of the Eckerd business.)
In the third quarter earnings press release, Rite Aid Chairman/CEO/President Mary Sammons blamed the company’s disappointing results in part on “a more cautious consumer.” Maybe, but most people are still buying toilet paper, when they can find it.
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Posted in Tags: 10Qs, Rite Aid |
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January 11th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
GO WALMART!
January 11th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Funny, well observed post. Thanks
January 13th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Quite accurate, and that is an inside perspective …funny too!
January 15th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I work at Rite Aid and unfortunately the story above is more true than false. I’ve watched customer after customer leave and go to Walgreens because we’re out of stock or our pharmacy is closed. This post would be funny to me too, if my career wasn’t hooked to such an incompetent company.
January 20th, 2008 at 1:03 am
Rite is failing because it pays its associates less than any other company in the drug retail industry. Corporate management’s agenda at RAD is to pay less and therefore save more. Mary Sammons, ask Circuit City how well this business plans works. To be the best you have to have the best in the field and in comparison to CVS and Walgreens, your associates make less, have little or no training, few benefits and have little incentive to perform above the minimum requirements. Also giving up the market to Walgreens in Las Vegas is a sign of things to come as the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker.
January 23rd, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I noticed the exact same thing at my Eckerd’s turned Rite Aid. At first I thought it was just getting rid of Eckerd’s inventory until they could stock up completely from Rite Aid suppliers but it has been going on for the past couple months. I don’t know how they are going to stay in business if half the time I have to walk two blocks further, but in a different direction to get the CVS. I have just started heading over there for some items and will probably do the same for all items before long.
February 17th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Five stars for accuracy!
March 19th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Let me tell you something all the above story is incorect I work in rite aid as pharmacist and honestly every single day we have more and more people swiching from other pharmcy to us so don’t believe everything you read.
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:56 am
With the only pharmacy in town is a Rite Aid, and found out lately they do not care about customer service. Yesterday went to the Rite Aid Pharmacy to get a refill. (I previous had it fill out of town at a Walgreens.) The generic medication from Rite Aid was different than the previous purchase at Walgreens, that when I had taken that medication purchase at Rite Aid, I could tell the difference in the medication, that something was wrong. Went back to the Rite Aid Pharmacy, all they want to do was contact my doctor, for a different medication. I told them no, do not call me doctor, there is problem with the generic medication. The pharmacist called my doctor after I told her not too. With problems that Rite Aid is having, are they now purchasing the cheapist generics medications to sell in there pharmacies?
April 6th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Rite aid has a serious problem with returns too.
The stores still have the old Eckerd default ordering system that orders the stores stuff when they dont order. it wastes fuel time and it damages merchandise!!
Rx is still using private couriers to deliver third shift picked Rx. what a waste.
I think if they address these problems, profits will soar!
April 12th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I just left Rite Aid after 8 years. The morale over there is the worst. Everyone is miserable and company support at the store level is nil. It’s hard to go to work everyday in an environment like that. The low pay is just an added insult. I don’t see the company making it in the long term with it’s poor cash flow. The whole buying of Eckerd was just a foolish move to try and play keep up with CVS and Walgreens.
April 18th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Rite Aid is a good company it is just run by too many VP,s that have little or no formal education. The worst concepts come from these prople that never deal with people on a one to one basis. I have logged over 20 years with Rite Aid. We are a pharmacy run by “grocery store” mentality. I think Mary Sammons tries hard but too much old wood is still in the rotten pile left by Martin Grass. The fools are now trying to match the $4.00 Walmart prices…..stupid..we can not make up the difference like Walmart does…we do not have the front end to do this. I had a customer bring in a $30.00 transfer coupon and also wanted us to match Walmart. The lowest AWP with all discounts on this medication was $19.77 for 30 tablets. How can we make up $15.77 + $30.00 + $cost of filling RX….we can’t. Some on needs to wake up and come see the front lines for advice. Really tired of seeing business go out the door but we have a duty to our stockholders to make a profit. I think the Couto’s will get real tired of Rite aid soon as their investment keeps falling.
April 18th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I am a Rite Aid Corp stock holder. My stock was at $80.00 plus dollars before Martin Grass ruined the Company. As stock owners know it is is at $2.52.
I am very disappointed in the condition of the stores. The stores appear dirty. Stock is worthless
compared to the quality pre Martin Grass. The front end stock is junk.
Talk to a pharmacist. Not having a 401K or other retirement options, Ride Aide gave the pharmacist stock options. Most pharmacist lost their complete retirements if they had not diversified. Rite Aid never compensated these pharmacist, but Mr. Grass the money he sqanderd.
Shame on you Rite Aid. If you treat your employees in such a manner, I must wonder how the consumer is treated.
The Pharmacist are salaried but their pay is based hourly. They do not get a lunch or dinner break. Think of your pharmacist completing 400 prescriptions in one day and not receive a break.
Each prescription 15 minutes. Think about it, there are not 400 increments in a 16 hour day.
Now let’s talk about the managers. They do not support the pharmacist. Who does support the pharmacist These pharmacist are pushed to the limit. They have no human resource support. If a pharmacist tries to suggest a solution to the problem, then they are the disgruntled employee, and agitator, causing trouble for the Corporation.
Ok public; if you have a problem with your medicine, who do you call. If you call your physician do you get an immediate answer or a call at the end of the day or two days later?
No you call your pharmacist and you get an immediate answer.
Yes, as a Rite Aid stock holder, I will go to Walgreen, CVS, Walmart, where I will receive better treatment as a consumer.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I work in the front end of a Rite Aid…it is garbage. I work in New York, the minimum wage is 7.25. I have been working there for about eight months, and make this amount, and I haven’t complained. I will complain however when the new front end hires in front of me with less experience start at 7.50…how is that done ethically? Again, the mistreatment and underpayment of their workers leads to shoddy work, and prevents good people from wanting to work there. The morale is zero. The pharmacy seems alright, but the front end is trash and Rite Aid will close its doors in 2-3 years in my opinion or sell if this keeps up. They are losing an unreal amount of money.
There is no stock. The truck of stuff we get is the most unreliable thing ever. Our manager is diligent: she orders whatever we need. We don’t always get it, because the distribution centers and Rite Aid Corporate in general are so bad it’s comical.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I am a front end shift supervisor at a Midwest Rite aid store. We are one of the unionized stores and it DOES make a difference, IMO.
Many of the low end paid jobs in the state (sales/retail has always been ) saw an increase in hourly wage due to the increase in minimum wage. The worker who has been employed for sometime sees new employees making almost what they had been prior to the wage increase. It isn’t pretty, but it isn’t just Rite Aids that have been effected.
There are several different DCs (or warehouse distribution centers). I have found a tremendous variability in availability when supplies are not ordered for upcoming sales. Yes, there is a min/max system in place to auto order based upon past sales performance and projected sales. However, this is not available for new stores (no sales history to project). This dumps the responsibility for ad orders squarely on local management. In our area I see a tremendous difference between stores depending upon who is doing the ad orders.
Corporations are like staggering behemoths, it takes a LOT of concerted effort to change anything..and all too much is “usy work” that makes no sense at store level. On the otherhand, I have worked other large corporations and found it isn’t peculiar to Rite Aid; it is the nature of corporate America.
October 28th, 2008 at 3:29 am
As a RA Pharmacist, I am very discouraged with the new push to “cut” hours. I worked for Eckerd/Coutu and the push there, too, was to cut hours. They would send a minimum wage cashier home to save $20, while people had to wait to check out. Our 400+/daily volume dropped to half that. I think Coutu helped ruin Eckerds. (Perhaps this was only regional -I don’t know). Now the same is happening with RA as Coutu is the major stockholder in the company. Doesn’t upper management see that as hours are cut, we can no longer handle the 400+ volume? In our rural area, people are not happy with waiting hours for their medications. With less staffing, our wait times to get a prescription filled are up to 3 hours and people are 10 deep waiting to pickup at the checkout. And the cycle continues…..staff cuts, customer service drops, people leave to other Pharmacies, script counts drop, more hours get cut, service drops, people leave, etc…… The answer from upper managment is – we have to work harder, or fire those that can’t handle it and hire new! Except, that Pharmacists & technicians are trained in what they do. Does the public want the prescription for their child or family member filled by an untrained & unexperienced person??? Now, safety issues come into play. If I were a stockholder, I would demand proper staffing (according to Board of Pharmacy requirements), and an environment conducive to patient safety !!! It’s getting dangerous, as I look at each prescription and profile for about 5 seconds as it speeds past me! I think we need a Walgreen to open nearby. Customers & staff will flock to them to get out from under this building mess. And don’t blame the economy, totally. Their stock was down before the market took a dive. They are over-extended in real estate, while staff & patients suffer.
November 8th, 2008 at 3:08 am
I’ve been working for Rite Aid for the past 5 years. I started off as a FE clerk and worked my way up to pharmacy as a full time RX clerk. Later I sent to tech school for my pharmacy technician license through Rite Aid. Over the years of working for a strong company, I’m loosing my compassion for it. #1 complaint is why send me to tech school and not pay me tech wages? I’ve been licensed for sometime now (almost 3 years now). I asked my PDM and all I get is the same old excuses. I’m barely making it on my Clerk pay AS A LICENSED PHARM TECH! It’s harder than ever now to survive since they are cutting my hours left and right. The economy is very bad and I can’t find any tech job in my area so Im stucked here for the time being. #2 Our Pharmacy staff is miserable. We are over worked and have absolutely no help! We barely eat our lunches, have no breaks since it too busy to take them. (which is a union no no ) Our PDM keeps cutting our hours and yet we have to put up with all the newer tedious busy work like the 3-day turn around courtesy calls, RX discount program, and auto refills and yet maintain a 75-80% CSI score. I’m sick of the FE not coming when i call for 35’s while my multiple drive-thrus are swamped, and both the pick up / drop off windows have lines of 10+ people waiting with cruel sick people. #3 Why cut hours at the busy time of the year its sick/flu season! #4 PDM wonders why our CSI scores are low? HELLO!!!! cut our hours, give us no help, and expect us to do all this tedious work and smile and try to treat customers with respect that constantly bickering about 3+ hour waits for their RX’s to be filled. Running a pharmacy that has a multiple drive-thru, and a high new RX volume 300+ new a day not including refills which can be 200+ with a budget of 115 hours ancillary per week. #4 Why continue the 30 dollar coupon for transferred RXs while our stock is 49 cents a share? 90% of all coupon customers abuse the program and are nothing but long-term problems. If our stock doesn’t raise in the next 6 month, D-day will be soon for this once strong company.
December 1st, 2008 at 2:41 am
Wow, a whole lot of discontent here with Rite Aid. But I like the Rite Aid I go to. It’s in a barren part of Salt Lake and not real busy — but the staff is super-friendly and the pharmacy is the best one around. Practically every other pharmacy I’ve been to screws up orders occasionally. Never happened at the Rite Aid, and I’ve been going there for years. I think it depends on local management, and the one I go to apparently has great managers.
December 21st, 2008 at 1:19 am
good post from unkown clerk, describes most pharmacy situations. except for the ancillary hrs…they constantly tell us to cut hrs too. but your situation sounds as though you are doing 500 rx/day? on 115 hr worth of tech help a week?? my store does 1/2 that vol and we get the same amt of hrs. better get your rx mgr to push for more hrs. better yet have him “overschedule” for a few weeks and watch the csi score rise. doing 500/day puts you at 3000+ a week! you have tons of room for more techs! fight for it!
December 21st, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Wow. Makes me glad it is Walgreen’s and CVS that are in my neck of the woods. They both have lots of stuff, good pharmacies (although I have most experience with Walgreens). This gives me a new perspective when I am told it will take 20 minutes to fill a prescription as to the workload our pharmacies likely have…I presume RiteAid management has read the original post and the continuing comments. Wonder what reflection they see in the mirror.
January 15th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Listen people… I am a former Rite Aid Store Manager. I worked for Eckerds for 5 Years and loved it. When RA came in to purchase us, everything went to complete hell. The dist. centers are working like pigs and anthing is correct. I strive on having a beautiful store and being in stock with items esp sale ones. Alot of the stock issues have to do with Store Managers not doing their jobs correctly. Rite aid is completly Mickey mouse it is not even funny. From my old District Manager that was completly useless and stupid…to the RVP that had no personality and was a complete ass to everyone he saw…Wow what a great place to work…These corporate heads are complete assholes and want nothing to do with us in the store until there is a complaint…Then they are all mighthy and powerful…no. I left RA and have been working with CVS and love the company. the standards are wonderful…the dm are great and they truly do care about their employees as people…i must say. As a store manager with RA they took away all bonuses and raises….what kind of shit is that??? we bust our asses all year for them to make things right and thats what they do…Not CVS…it truly is a wonderful place to work. Great pay and the bosses are awsome.Rite aid just sucks…No quality people…no quality management. Mary Sammons is no fool…come on now. she knew what she was doing when she bought us out. she made sure she took real good care of her pockets and her family. A nice lump sum of MILLIONS>>>> She set HERELF up for success while she took money out of our pockets…This is a woman that NEVER checks her E-Mail…NEVER…I used to check when the last time she would sign on was and it literally was 14 months. He assistant signs on once a week…What kind of shit is that??? We were expected to chect it 6 times a day…HA…Mary Sammons I hope you have a wonderful life here on earth but I hope you burn in hell forever for doing what you did to us store managers when you took us over…You really need to use some of that money you got and use it to get some plastic surgery…Damn you are busted…well thank people for listening to my lovely story…Mike
April 13th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
There are some very good people working at Rite Aid. But there are a few DMs who are total jerks.
A campaign was started this past year called, “This is my Rite Aid and I love it!” What a bunch of crock! Don’t even dare to think that your idea matters…it doesn’t mean shit with Rite Aid. Corporate Rite Aid blames everyone but themselves for running the company into the ground. And they are going to continue running it into the ground blaming the associates all of the way.
Every week we get pages and pages of outs that won’t be shipped to the stores and then the DMs run around blaming the managers for not bringing the product in. It is disappointing to work so hard but still get crapped on.
Again, not everyone is like that, but there are enough around that ruin it for those who try so hard. Rite Aid is going under and it is those at the top who are bringing it down. Glen
September 4th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I am a union driver for rite aid,with 10 yrs of service, we just recently ratified a new contract with rite aid and we took some major concessions due to the economic times and the companies bad financial condition. I work many 14 hr days with sometimes little or no breaks and end up sleeping on their lot in order to try and get the freight there in the store.The result from this is I am seeing my take home pay cut even more & more. they are cutting & scrutinizing us in every way possible,many of the stores are now delivered bi-weekly which increases the freight load on those weeks they are delivered.A private carrier is delivering phamacy on the off week which does not make sense because of the cost and because all the bi-weekly stores that I deliver complain to me of the empty spots they have on their shelves, everything I hear and see concerning RAD is negative,things they do in operating and managing makes no sense in cost effectiveness & profitability. Stores I once delivered in 1 trip are now being delivered by a driver who is the 3rd driver in the relay to get the load there. I wonder how many possibilities come into play here for something to go wrong with the delivery to the store, but then what do I know I am only a truck driver & a consumer. Some one in Harrisburg needs to get their head out of their … the sand.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
I have been working for Rite Aid for a little over a year. I guess our store was one of the most highest grossing stores our DM had, but when Wal-Mart came, our sales were cut in half. Thank God we have liquor and photo or we would wouldn’t have jobs.
Heres my little rant. I was started at full time and now I work anywhere from 20-25 hours per week. I live in a very small town with only about 5 stores so finding a new job as convenient is not an option. Get this. I started out at 7.00 an hour, a little more than minimum wage. When minimum wage went up, guess what….they didnt adjust it, so now Im just making the minimum. Our store manager is ridiculous. If you even get make him upset he will cut your hours and make you close the couple of days a week that you work. This is until he isn’t mad anymore. Then as he gets over it you slowly start to see the little hours you have returning. I have never worked with a manager that did nothing but slam his employers and make fun of customers after they leave.
I guess we will be opening our stores until 11 during the Xmas holiday season. Thats great. We are allotted 230 hours of payroll for 6 of us. I dont know how rite aid expects us to be open from 8am to 11pm with only 230 hours.
I have been commended on my customer service quite a few times, but Im beginning to crack. How can a company treat their associates like this? Without us, they have no company….
I wish a walgreens would open here!!!
January 1st, 2010 at 9:32 am
I worked for Field Systems Support for Eckerd, and became part of Rite Aid’s Field Technical Support. On our first day with RA, we lost our sick days (RA does not offer sick days), and were assigned Perpetual On-Call. The ONLY way to get a day off is to take vacation, and you are only off during 8 to 5; after your vacation hours have expired @ 5PM, you are back on call, with a two hour, on-site response time, including all holidays, nights and weekends. No days off, ever. If called out on Sunday or nights, we are forced to stop work on Thursday mornings, and cannot clock-in until management feels ’safe’ that we won’t incur over 40 hours (no paid time and half), since work-week ends on Saturday. We must maintain an on-line diary of how we spend every minute of the day, and clock-in/out of every store we visit. Kronos hours are strictly watched during hours we are paid, but most working hours (strictly enforced perpetual on-call) are not paid, so the system is rigged. People who work here have no options, and are not qualified to work anyplace else. It’s no wonder RA is at the bottom of the chain-store heap. Needless to say, I left for CVS, which is light-years better.
January 13th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
I am currently a pharmacy tech at Rite Aid…I think the company is a mess and so is the management..a complete joke! I worked for a private for 18 years and they sold out to Rite Aid when ready to retire…That is the only reason I am there and the fact that there are not many tech jobs available in my area. The jobs that are available are more low wage chains or must be able to speak spanish…
I’m so frustrated! Being in a thankless job for a thankless company is humiliating! Help!
February 27th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Wow, I thought I had bad days at work. Seriously, if you hate your job that much quit. There are a whole lot of people that want to work and can not. Don’t think for a moment that the people at the warhouses, or even your district manager has it that easy. They are just the bearers of bad news made from people that have no idea how to get out the forest they have found themselves lost in. Aqusitions take time to recover. Riteaid did not have the business sense to know the economy they were walking into and they got stuck. If you want hours…be nice to the customer’s. Order until it comes in. Call another store if you have to. People know they can buy toilet paper anywhere, they come because the people are nice. Yes, corporate has done wrong. They are people too. But you have the power to be the light in someones day if you are at the front counter. I’ve worked in a great many riteaids, the top selling stores, have a great store team. The best manager I ever worked for also had the busiest store i’ve been in. She set out to say we are going to have fun and treat people right no matter what. and she did it. Don’t let the grumpies ruin you too.