Shoplifting kills a Rite Aid — and maybe Manhattan’s comeback chancesBy Nicole Gelinas
January 30, 2022
Of all the burdens Manhattan has borne this January, the imminent closing of the 24-hour Midtown West Rite Aid hardly qualifies as a tragedy. But the fact that an otherwise-thriving major corporation is giving up on core Manhattan matters for our decaying borough.
The pharmacy, on 8th Avenue and 50th Street, will close Feb. 8. Last week, it was effectively already shuttered, with most of the store cordoned off with gates. Just a small, strange assortment — children’s coloring books jumbled with vitamins — was marooned on front shelves on “clearance.”
The clearance prices were ironic — because the reason the Rite Aid is closing is mass-scale shoplifting. As The Post reported last week, the shop lost $200,000 in goods in two months.
This store’s workers have had a rough two years. In June 2020 — the summer of “peaceful protests” — the shop suffered looting. The windows were broken and $60,000 worth of drugs stolen.
The Rite Aid was then completely covered in plywood for days.
Since then, the store’s workers — mostly people of color — have suffered the strain of constant disorder.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2022/01/30/shoplifting-kills-a-rite-aid-and-maybe-manhattans-comeback-chances/
