CLEARLAKE ? Rite-Aid completed its move to its new facility and is open for business at the corner of Old Highway 53 and Olympic Drive in Clearlake. An official grand opening celebration, which will include special sales is scheduled for May 29. In-store specials will continue until the grand opening event.
The store features a new amenities such as a pharmacy drive-thru, pharmacist consulting room, an advanced self-serve photo station and a Thrifty”s Ice Cream parlor. Inventory increased and the retail floor expanded.
“A lot of our products are still the same but we cut back on some of our slower categories and upped some of the others,” Store Manager Jim Leake said. “Our store is really tailored for our area.”
“The pharmacy is more open and has more work stations than we had at the other store,” Leake said. “We had three computers; now we have seven. We”ve doubled that so we can get prescriptions out faster. And the drive-thru, that”s going to be good on hot days for people.”
Leake said that the Over-The-Counter (OTC) medicines and supplements have been expanded and strategically placed, too. OTCs appropriate to the season have been placed so that the pharmacist can easily point customers in the right direction. Inventory of GNC supplemental products have been evaluated and increased to meet the demographical needs of the community. “We”ve always been a GNC store but we have expanded on the line,” Leake said. “We now have vitamins tailored to serve the needs of the senior population.”
A Hispanic line of OTCs has also been added. “The Hispanic rate has gone up recently and Rite-Aid recognized that and brought in this line,” Leake said.
There is a consultation room where customers can speak with the pharmacists in private. “This is something that Rite-Aid is really proud of. We now have a private counseling room,” Leake said. “It”s a nice area where you can talk to the pharmacist in private.”
A pharmacy customer agreed. “It does make a big difference,” Amy Fox, of Clearlake said. “I don”t like to discuss my prescriptions out here in front of everybody.”
According to Leake, Rite-Aid Clearlake is the only store hosting a digital photo system prototype that allows customers to work freely on their pictures. The system can be used in the store or accessed from home. “This is a prototype and we are the only Rite-Aid that has one of these. We have three digital stations. People can go to riteaid.com and download their pictures and come to the store and pick them up,” Leake said. “These are designed for the customer. They can sit here. Take their time and work on their pictures. We”ve placed the stations close to the check stands in case they need help. Everybody in my store has been trained in photo.”
Leake said that the beauty and health section is pretty much the same with the exception of a few new lines, expanded lotion products and new organic selections.
The fishing and camping section was expanded as well. “In traditional drug stores you don”t have a lot of fishing and camping equipment. But in Clearlake, where we have the lake, we have 48-square feet,” he said. “We”re second best in California for sporting goods, so this was important to get in for presentation.”
Other improvements include an expanded line of greeting cards, upright wall freezers and refrigerators for easier customer access and the return of Thrify”s Ice Cream. Leake said the one thing that will not be coming back is the garden center, due to lack of space and limitations on outside displays.
The Rite-Aid relocation project took about a year. The project entailed infrastructure improvements including installation of traffic signals at Old Highway 53 and Olympic Drive.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
