Not Quite Rite Aid — These Similarly Named New Michigan Pharmacies Have Found Other Properties For Adaptive Reuse
Over 200 Michigan locations closed following Rite Aid's bankruptcy; now several new (and similarly named) independent pharmacies have opened -- but have found other properties for adaptive reuse
Rite Aid closed all ~230 of its Michigan stores last year during its first bankruptcy.
But a few employees of a shuttered Rite Aid in Bay City, Michigan really wanted to continue their work.
And they did not want to leave the area.
So the group—which included a pair of pharmacists that had worked together for over 15 years at the Bay City Rite Aid—formed their own independent pharmacy.
They even named it “Right Aid” Pharmacy.
A reuse of the ~13,000 square foot former Rite Aid building did not make sense, however, for the new pharmacy-only operation.
The proprietors of the new pharmacy instead found another area property for adaptive reuse:
A ~2,000 square foot former credit union building (complete with a drive thru!)
Right Aid Pharmacy in Bay City is not the only new Michigan pharmacy with a familiar name.
The Rite Care Pharmacy in Troy, Michigan opened last Fall just months after a nearby Rite Aid store closed.
Rite Care offers prescriptions, over the counter medications and services such as walk-in flu shots.
It did not, however, backfill the 13,000 square foot former Rite Aid building but instead occupies ~1,500 square feet on the first floor of a multi-tenant office building.
Similarly, in April 2025 the Rite Pharmacy opened in the ~9,000 person town of Alma in Central Michigan.
Alma had lost both its Rite Aid and Walgreens stores in the past two years.
This had left just the Walmart and Meijer stores on the edge of town — both which were notorious for long lines and slow service — as the only area pharmacies.
The new Rite Pharmacy in Alma offers prescriptions, vitamins and medical supplies, walk-in immunizations.
Plus it offers drive-thru pickup and provides free delivery to residents in area communities.
Like the Right Aid Pharmacy in Bay City, the Rite Pharmacy site in Alma is also an adaptive reuse.
Not of the former Rite Aid building in town (which remains vacant).
But instead of a ~2,000 square foot building—with a drive thru—that was once occupied by GraCo Credit Union and most recently home to the Mr. C's Boom 'N Holidays fireworks store.
