Rite Aid on Woodward is latest Midtown retail closure

Longtime customers are questioning the closure of a Rite Aid on a busy stretch of Woodward Avenue.

Why it matters: Next month's scheduled closure means many Midtown residents, some who get around on foot or via public transportation, will have to travel farther for small groceries and prescriptions.

• The store has been serving residents in the area for nearly 20 years.

State of play: Customers have until March 25 to use its pharmacy — the store is set to close entirely on April 21, and there already are plenty of empty shelves.

What they're saying: Above the Rite Aid in the Albert Kahn building are the Garfield Lofts, a 56-unit collection of apartments where rent starts around $1,400.

• "I bought my cat litter here," says Spenser Whittle, who lives in one of the apartments. "It's a bummer because it doesn't seem to be doing bad business-wise. A lot of people come here."
• Landlord Christine Jonna, of Jonna Companies, told the Free Press the store's sales were going up. "It wasn't a matter of rent," she said.

The big picture: The Rite Aid joins other retail shops in the area that have closed recently.

• The Starbucks on Mack Avenue closed last year over safety issues, including incidents of theft, verbal harassment and assault, the Free Press reported.
• Midtown Inc.'s former director Sue Mosey told the Detroit News she hoped a new coffee shop would take Starbucks' place. That hasn't happened yet.

Between the lines: Police officers have been patrolling the location "for some time, and [have] made several arrests for retail fraud there," DPD spokesperson Jackson Vidaurri told Axios in a statement.

• Several officers were guarding the front entrance of the store last week. The effort was part of the department's "overall crime strategy in this area," Vidaurri tells Axios.
• Rite Aid's corporate spokesperson didn't return a call or reply to messages for comment.

Context: The pharmacy chain filed for bankruptcy last year and obtained $3.45 billion in financing to carry out a restructuring plan amid falling sales and opioid-related lawsuits.

Zoom out: The closings are leaving some worried about "pharmacy deserts" in areas with large Black and Hispanic populations, the Associated Press reports.

The bottom line: There have been a string of pharmacy losses along Woodward's retail corridor since 2018 .

• And after the area lost out on a planned Target last year, it's unclear if any retailers will replace them.

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