Rite Aid announced major plans on Monday during an analyst call including the unveiling of a new logo.
The company says that it is working on the “store of the future.”
“It is a new day at Rite Aid,” Jim Peters, COO of Rite Aid said on Monday.
Changes at Rite Aid over the next few years started with a new logo unveiled on Monday but also include an overhaul in merchandise, implementing workflow changes, re-engineering how the entire pharmacy team works, changing workspace, hiring more technicians and digital updates. New remodeled stores will include an open counter for pharmacists to easily step out and interact with customers.
Rite Aid plans to eventually renovate all of its store. (Image provided)
The company plans to open nine pilot stores in the future and renovate around another 65 by the end of the fiscal year of 2021.
Company officials said it will change the duties of both its technicians and pharmacists with a focus of making the pharmacist more front and center and accessible.
“Our pharmacists will no longer be walled off and under-utilized,” Rite Aid CEO Heyward Donigan said on Monday.
The company is not changing its iconic name but Rite Aid plans to change how it works.
“I want to recognize that our existing brand is outdated,” Donigan said.
Rite Aid also announced a consolidation of its Envision Rx Options company, a health care and pharmacy benefit management company that it purchased in 2015 and has changed the name to Elixir, consolidate its operations and its offices to the Rite Aid corporate office and incorporate it more into its Rite Aid operation.
Rite Aid plans to eventually renovate all of its store. (Image provided)
Rite Aid plans to overhaul all of its stores but it will be a multi-year process. In the short term Rite Aid expects to make changes to the exterior of its stores and incorporate new signage. And there will be a focus on overhauling its merchandise. The new stores will include new wellness rooms.
Rite Aid plans to invest $700 million over the next 24 months to invest in the project.
Rite Aid officials also announced on Monday that it plans to eventually offer coronavirus testing. It also announced that it will eventually cease selling tobacco products.
- READ MORE: Rite Aid to eventually stop selling tobacco items
- READ MORE: Rite Aid to eventually offer coronavirus testing
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