What an old Rite Aid

Our newest post takes us to a special kind of bargain store. Amsterdam awaits you!

This recently repurposed building at 1 Northern Boulevard was built in 1993 for Rite Aid Pharmacy, presumably the original location of store #3336. In the 2000s, this building was occupied by Family Dollar until their lease expired in 2008. It was later leased to a dialysis provider before What A Bargain moved in on November 20, 2022.

Stores like this are referred to as "bin stores". These type of stores sell merchandise out of bins/boxes at a heavily discounted price. The merchandise typically comes from big box stores or online marketplaces and consists of unsold clearance, overstock, or returned merchandise, the latter of which often comes from being damaged, such as an open box.

Inside we see elements from both Rite Aid (such as the stripes in the tile and patterned drop ceiling) and Family Dollar (the suspended strip lighting).

The store's shopping carts consist of those picked up off the streets. Mostly from Walmart, but also Hannaford, Home Depot, Lowe's, and Market 32.

[NYCCR NEW YEAR SPECIAL] The Retail Regents Bag Show

To kick off the new year, I have decided to show off some of the shopping bags I have on hand as of this writing while making some alterations to both blog pages. All were photographed this morning and not old photos from years previous.

Revival-era Grand Union bag from 2022.

These bags with the "be wild" phrasing are from Hannaford.

The back of this bag features Ollie flying a red biplane on a blue backdrop with the saying "Our Prices are Just "Plane Cheap"".

As was typical for Kmart in the 2010s, print media including their bags were laden with terrible wordplay.

These bags were used by Hannaford stores around 2018 or 2019.

Undated Price Chopper bag from either the 1980s or 1990s.

Some C&S-supplied independent supermarket operators got bags featuring the Best Yet logo. This particular bag came from the Lockwood-owned Great American in Watertown, NY.

Classic Sears bag from the late 1980s.

This large plastic back was acquired from the Gloversville location during its liquidation.

A change of venue was required for the tall early 2000s Sears garment bag.

Odd grey Jamesway bag with red lettering. Age unknown.

These bags came in an array of different colors, while using red lettering.

This 2016/17 slogan was used during the failed "Life is Ridiculously Awesome" campaign, and as such, is a misnomer.

Classic blue "Roll Back" era bag, with a copyright date of 2001.

Happy new year to all!

- Retail Regents