This longtime Boise store has just changed. Now it represents ‘the future of Rite Aid’

John Sowell
·3 min read

Four drugstores in Idaho are among the first of Rite Aid’s more than 2,400 stores to undergo a major remodel.

“This is the future of Rite Aid,” Lydia Stroup, a RiteAid divisional vice president for retail, said in an interview at the company’s flagship Boise store at 1515 W. State St. “This is our new remodel, the start of a transformation from what you would do in a traditional drug store into a health and wellness destination.”

Gone are the cramped aisles, high shelves and dim lighting.

“Now, you can really see the products and have the opportunity to explore through this clean and clutter-free aesthetic,” Stroup said.

The building Rite Aid occupies at 15th and State was built by Safeway in 1950. It has the rounded roof known as Marina-style, because the first Safeway store with that feature was built on Marina Boulevard in San Francisco. That store design was popular through the early 1960s. The 15th and State store later became a PriceLess Drug Store, a chain bought by Rite Aid in 1996.

Rite Aid, headquartered in Pennsylvania, plans to spend $700 million over the next two years changing how it operates and remodeling stores, found in 18 states mostly along the West and East Coasts. A handful of other stores that have been remodeled are in Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The pharmacy inside the remodeled Rite Aid at 15th and State streets in Boise has been opened up to make pharmacists working at a desk more accessible to customers. The company hopes to increase pharmacist interaction with those filling prescriptions from 20% to 80%.
The pharmacy inside the remodeled Rite Aid at 15th and State streets in Boise has been opened up to make pharmacists working at a desk more accessible to customers. The company hopes to increase pharmacist interaction with those filling prescriptions from 20% to 80%.

It will take several years to complete remodels of all the stores, Stroup said.

Other Idaho stores that have been updated are at 660 E. Boise Ave., at 3250 S. Eagle Road in Meridian, and at 451 Deinhard Lane in McCall. Rite Aid spent about $500,000 on each remodel, according to building permits.

There are four other Rite Aid stores in Boise, a second store in Meridian and one each in Caldwell, Coeur d’Alene, Lewiston, Moscow and Hayden.

The McCall store has a new ice cream counter, long a tradition at Thrifty Drug Stores, a California chain bought as part of the PayLess deal.

“With McCall being that resort-like destination, we knew we had to put it in there,” Stroup said.

Rite Aid has also opened up its pharmacy, adding a kiosk where pharmacists will be more easily available to customers. The company’s goal with a concept it calls RxEvolution is to have pharmacists engage with pharmacy customers 80% of the time, an increase from 20%.

“Our pharmacists will no longer be walled off and under-utilized,” Rite Aid CEO Heyward Donigan told PennLive.

The height of shelves inside the remodeled Rite Aid store at 15th and State streets in Boise has been lowered to make the store seem less cluttered and to give customers and employees better views throughout the store.
The height of shelves inside the remodeled Rite Aid store at 15th and State streets in Boise has been lowered to make the store seem less cluttered and to give customers and employees better views throughout the store.

The remodeled pharmacy space also includes an added consultation room and a virtual care room.

“It’s an opportunity for the pharmacist to have some private space with a customer,” said Brooke Elliott, a Rite Aid regional pharmacy leader based in Boise. “In the virtual care room, you can get online and talk to a health care provider via video conferencing.”

The store also features an expanded beauty section that includes holistic products and organic products. Pharmacists are encouraged to recommend those products when appropriate and not just focus on prescription medications, Elliott said.

Donigan has said that Rite Aid is looking to attract more women ages 25 to 49 to its stores. The company follows social media influencers to help highlight trending beauty items.

The remodeling of the State Street store began in January. The work took less than three months to complete, longtime store manager Ian Osgood said.

The store is open 24 hours a day and is Rite Aid’s best-performing store in the Treasure Valley.

“We’ve had nothing but positive feedback from our customers,” Osgood said.