The Rite Aid in Snohomish at Second Street and Pine Avenue.
Photo by Michael Whitney.
In the last week of May, soon after it was announced CVS would take over 64 Rite Aid and Bartell stores in the Pacific Northwest, CVS obtained a state business license to operate the Snohomish Rite Aid at 205 Pine Ave. So, too, did CVS file for the Bartell Drugs in Frontier Village at Market Place near Highway 9 in Lake Stevens, Bartell's in Marysville near the trampoline park, plus stores in Stanwood, Edmonds and dozens more around the state.
These findings are through the Tribune's review of state Department of Revenue business license filings and comparing locations.
CVS is not keeping the Bartell Drugs name on the 20 Bartell Drugs stores CVS will be buying.
"We know Bartell Drugs has been a much-loved brand in Washington and we’re planning to continue to offer many of the local products their customers have grown to know and love," CVS spokeswoman Amy Thibault said. "In addition, we’ll be enhancing the overall product selection and availability in these locations and adding team members to help ensure an excellent in-store shopping experience."
Location plans
The CVS spokeswoman could confirm CVS plans to obtain and acquire the Snohomish Rite Aid at Second and Pine, and the Lake Stevens Bartell's on Market Place, the Rite Aid on Smokey Point Boulevard and the Edmonds and Seattle Hill Road stores.
The transactions are not complete yet. There's a little more to do before then. Thibault said the usual customary closing conditions could be done likely in mid- to late summer. Some changeovers may not be complete until fall.
But otherwise the last pieces to line everything up in most instances appear to be the local city business licenses and state liquor distribution licenses. In Snohomish's case, for example, the business license application is under standard review by "the Building & Fire Official for potential permitting requirements," said Brady Begin, who coordinates city economic development.
The Snohomish Bartells at 13th and Avenue D doesn't seem to be changing to CVS. Rite Aid bought the homegrown Bartell Drugs chain in 2020.
The Monroe Rite Aid on U.S. 2 at N. Kelsey Street also has a cloud over it. Rite Aid did not respond to say what it is doing, but CVS said it does not have confirmation it plans to buy it. The store was built in 1998, records indicate.
Rite Aid is in bankruptcy. It put almost all its store leases up for grabs.
The chain has formalized some store closure plans. These are being made public as Rite Aid proceeds through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy it announced May 5.
The Granite Falls Rite Aid closed this month. The Silver Lake Bartell's? It's set to shutter, Rite Aid said in bankruptcy papers filed earlier this month.
CVS has agreed to acquire and operate 64 Rite Aid stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. A U.S. bankruptcy court authorized CVS to obtain the stores in a May 21 decision, but those store locations were sealed by court order.
For the bankruptcy, Rite Aid sought to sell off the leases for upwards of 1,100 of its stores.
Its real estate partner issued a list of available properties for lease takeover and for sale.
That list of properties is playing out like a proven roadmap of what stores Rite Aid may close or has closed, such as the now-gone 17,000-square-foot Rite Aid in Granite Falls.
The Monroe Rite Aid and the Snohomish Bartell Drugs at 13th and Avenue D are both on that list. So, too, are stores which later were officially stated to close, for example: The Silver Lake Bartell's, the Mukilteo Rite Aid, the Everett Rite Aid next to Staples on Evergreen Way.
Bidders are aiming for chunks of Rite Aid leases. The next deadline for bids on some Rite Aid properties was June 23 after press time.
CVS entered Washington state with its first store in 2014 in Renton. It built brand-new stores in Snohomish County along Highway 99 in Everett and Lynnwood in 2016. It also took over all pharmacy operations inside Target stores about 10 years ago, immediately bringing CVS to Lake Stevens and dozens of other cities.
The wider CVS umbrella corporation also owns one of the "Big Three" pharmacy benefits management (PBM) company related to deciding pill prices, and owns Aetna health insurance. Rite Aid had its own smaller PBM. (UnitedHealth Group owns another of the "Big Three" PBM companies, named OptumRX, plus the parent company owns UnitedHealthcare insurance and a portfolio of medical clinics that include The Everett Clinic and Seattle's Polyclinic.)
List of locations identified (Tribune reporting):
CVS license filings for Rite Aid/Bartell locations received at state Department of Revenue since May:
* Snohomish, 205 Pine Ave.: The Snohomish Rite Aid
* Lake Stevens, 9010 Market Pl.: The new Lake Stevens Bartell's built in 2018
* Mill Creek area, 5006 132nd St. SE: The new Bartells at Seattle Hill Road and 132nd
* Marysville, 6602 64th St. NE: Bartell Drugs on state Route 528
* Bothell, 22833 Bothell-Everett Highway: Bartell Drugs in Canyon Park plaza with QFC grocery
* Stanwood, 26817 88th Ave. NW: Rite Aid in downtown Stanwood
* Edmonds, 23028 100th Ave W.: Bartell Drugs in Edmonds
* Smokey Point (Arlington), 17226 Smokey Point Blvd.: Rite Aid is shopping plaza
and outside Snohomish County
* Redmond: Bartell Drugs in Redmond
* Kirkland: Bartell Drugs at 10625 NE 68th St., Bridle Falls Center
* Bellevue: Three- Bartells downtown on 8th Street, and Rite Aid at 15100 SE 38th St., Bartell at 653 156th Ave. NE in Bellevue Crossroads
Officially announced Rite Aid / Bartells closures in Snohomish County:
* Everett, 11020 19th Ave. SE - Silver Lake Bartell's
* Everett, 4920-A Evergreen Way - Rite Aid next to Staples
* Everett, 3909 Hoyt Ave. - Bartells inside the former Everett Clinic
* Granite Falls, 608 W Stanley St. - The Granite Falls Rite Aid
* Mukilteo, 11700 Mukilteo Speedway - The Mukilteo Rite Aid
CVS also already has prior freestanding stores, including at
* Everett: On Highway 99 and Airport Road
* Lynnwood: On Highway 99 and state Route 524
* Mini-pharmacies inside the Target stores at Lake Stevens, Everett Mall Way, Lynnwood's Alderwood Mall Way, and others.
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Some stores not known yet include:
* Monroe: 18906 US-2 (Kelsey and U.S. 2)
* Lynnwood/Lake Serene: Bartell Drugs
* Arlington: Bartell Drugs on Highway 9
* Mountlake Terrace: Bartell Drugs at 22803 44th Ave. W
* Bothell: Rite Aid at 22631 Bothell Everett Hwy in plaza with PCC grocery
* Kirkland/Totem Lake: Rite Aid at 12421 Totem Lake Blvd NE
