The Edmonds Rite Aid store in the Highway 99 Ranch Market complex is closing as of Sept. 19. Shelves inside the store were looking increasingly bare Thursday as shoppers snapped up store-closing deals.
The store, located at 22515 Highway 99, was inside the former Kmart before that chain declared bankruptcy and the space was acquired by 99 Ranch Market in 2002, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported in this article. Then 99 Ranch Market leased space to Rite Aid.
“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,” Rite-Aid said in a statement Friday morning. “A decision to close a store is one we take very seriously and is based on a variety of factors including business strategy, lease and rent considerations, local business conditions and viability, and store performance. We review every neighborhood to ensure our customers will have access to health services, be it at Rite Aid or a nearby pharmacy, and we work to seamlessly transfer their prescriptions so there is no disruption of services. We also strive to transfer associates to other Rite Aid locations where possible.”
Rite Aid acquired Bartell Drugs in 2020. Customers at Rite Aid’s Highway 99 location were told they could begin picking up their prescriptions at the Edmonds’ Bartell store, located at 23028 100th Ave. W. in Edmonds’ Westgate neighborhood, after Sept. 19.
— Story and photo by Teresa Wippel
Bartells at 99 and 176th closing this Tuesday. Many sorry to see this long time, once popular establishment go. Told to pick up Rx at 148th location.
I have lived here in Edmonds 24 years and enjoyed shopping at K-Mart and Rite Aid that were both pretty busy back then. At no time was RiteAid inside the K-Mart store as it’s mentioned here. It was adjacent and you had to walk out of K-Mart to go in to RiteAid. I remember quite distinctly.