Former Rockridge Payless in Oakland
Posted: 20 Jun 2008 01:21
On the Castro Valley comment in the previous post- yes it a bit of a time warp but it wasn't too long ago that Pleasanton (and Livermore, for that matter) towns just over the next hill away from the bay were equally "time-warped".
On the Rite-Aid store - I have lived in the Bay Area for 30 years and vaguely remember "Payless" which was later "Thrifty" - They seem to have had a model of large "discount" stores within the drug store business. Of course, this brings up the "Longs" at 51st/Pleasant Valley and Broadway (Rockridge Shopping Center) in Oakland, which community members still call "Payless" today. Although it is not as big as the CV Rite-Aid, its enormous by today's drug chain standards. It even had a full "Garden Center". and a "Top Dog" hot dog stand.
That "Longs" will likely be lost in the next two years as Safeway has the master lease for the Rockridge Shopping Center and plans on demolishing the Longs for a new 70,000 square foot or so Lifestyle store to replace current Safeway on the other side of the shopping center. Once the shopping center is "redeveloped" I assume that a pharmacy chain will open a more standard size store in the center (or not, as the Safeway will have a full service pharmacy and they might not want the competition).
Mitch Bart
Split by moderator from this thread.
On the Rite-Aid store - I have lived in the Bay Area for 30 years and vaguely remember "Payless" which was later "Thrifty" - They seem to have had a model of large "discount" stores within the drug store business. Of course, this brings up the "Longs" at 51st/Pleasant Valley and Broadway (Rockridge Shopping Center) in Oakland, which community members still call "Payless" today. Although it is not as big as the CV Rite-Aid, its enormous by today's drug chain standards. It even had a full "Garden Center". and a "Top Dog" hot dog stand.
That "Longs" will likely be lost in the next two years as Safeway has the master lease for the Rockridge Shopping Center and plans on demolishing the Longs for a new 70,000 square foot or so Lifestyle store to replace current Safeway on the other side of the shopping center. Once the shopping center is "redeveloped" I assume that a pharmacy chain will open a more standard size store in the center (or not, as the Safeway will have a full service pharmacy and they might not want the competition).
Mitch Bart
Split by moderator from this thread.