How Do You Repurpose A Former Drugstore Building?

These ten examples of creative drugstore adaptive reuse offer owners of vacant drugstore real estate options to evaluate and perhaps emulate

Over 1,000 CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid drugstores closed in 2024.

And hundreds more are set to close in 2025

So what happens next to this soon-to-be vacant drugstore real estate?

The good news that hundreds of drugstores that closed in recent years have already been backfilled or redeveloped.

So there are many “case studies” of repurposed drugstores for real estate owners to evaluate and perhaps emulate.

Like the following ten examples:

1) CAR WASH — one of the more unconventional adaptive reuses of a former drugstore?

As a car wash.

At least 3 former Rite Aid drugstores in Pennsylvania and Michigan have been converted into car wash units by Express Wash Concepts.

But the first Express Wash drugstore-to-car wash conversion was a ~$3 MM repurpose of a vacant Walgreens building in Ohio.

Express Wash developed a car wash tunnel in the west half of the building while the east half was utilized for indoor vacuum units and detailing stations.

2) DOUGHNUT “HUB” — a former CVS in Minnesota is currently being turned into a Krispy Kreme Doughnut shop and factory.

The 13,000 square foot former CVS might seem a bit large for doughnut shop (and is >5x the size of a standard Krispy Kreme).

But Krispy Kreme intends for it to both serve on-site customers and act as a "hub" where it can bake and distribute fresh doughnuts daily to "spoke" sites like gas stations, grocery stores and restaurants.

Krispy Kreme is adding a dine-in area and reusing the former drugstore’s existing drive thru window.

But the building will also include areas for large scale doughnut production, warehousing, staging and loading onto delivery trucks.

3) DOG PARK AND RESTAURANT — an ex-Rite Aid in the Atlanta area was redeveloped into a dog park and restaurant.

The ~11,000 square foot former Rite Aid building in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta was split into a 5,000 square foot restaurant and coffee bar (for humans) and a 6,000 square foot indoor play area for dogs.

A 1/2 acre area to the rear of the property has also been utilized as an outdoor dog park.

4) MULTI-TENANT STRIP CENTER — Carving up a single tenant drugstore building for multiple users can result in odd suite sizes, unleasable space, and a lack of parking.

Plus the price to acquire and the cost to repurpose can be quite expensive.

But one developer group has a plan to convert a former Walgreens in the Rochester, New York area into a five tenant strip center for Panera Bread, Chipotle and others.

5) COLLISION CENTER — A former CVS drugstore in Illinois was proposed to be converted into a collision center and auto body shop.

Gerber Collision developed plans to modify the drugstore building for auto service work by adding a garage door on its north side for vehicle drop off as well as two overhead doors on its west side for cars in need of repair to enter and exit.

But the Gerber walked away from the project after encountering significant resistance to the Project from the community.

6) C-STORE AND GAS STATION — a repurpose of a Houston-area Walgreens has resulted in a convenience “c-store” and gas station.

Now & Forever, a Houston-based chain of c-stores, added a fuel canopy and 16 fuel pumps on the parking lot of the former Walgreens parking lot.

It also converted the ~14,000 square former Walgreens building into a Now & Forever “Plus” store with the “Plus” moniker reflecting the larger size of the c-store relative to its other sites.

7) GROCERY STORES — multiple former drugstores have been converted into grocery stores by Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage.

The ~170 unit, Colorado-based specialty grocer has repurposed former drugstores in several states, including its newest store: a former CVS in Waco, Texas.

8) DOLLAR STORES — Dollar stores are among the most common backfills of vacant drugstore real estate.

The former drugstores are not only often in locations desired by dollar store operators, but retrofits of the drugstore buildings are also much cheaper and faster than if they instead pursued new construction.

9) SHOE STORES — Foot Locker, Skechers and Shoe Show have all opened in former Walgreens drugstores.

And as shoe retailers increasingly shift their real estate from regional malls to “neighborhood” sites, former drugstore real estate may be a continued source for new store growth and relocations.

10) MOTORCYCLE DEALERSHIPS— The Harley Davidson dealership in Staten Island, New York traces its motorcycle selling history all the way back to 1914.

But when the dealership was sold in 2016, its new owners sought a larger location.

So they relocated the dealership into a 14,000 square foot building that includes a customer lounge, coffee bar and a dyno center where motorcycles can get a tune-up.

The previous use of the building now home to Harley Davidson of Staten Island?

A Walgreens drugstore.