Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
We shopped at CVS and Rite Aid to see which was a better drugstore, and the winner was clear
We shopped at CVS and Rite Aid to see which was a better drugstore, and the winner was clear
Jessica Tyler,Jessica TylerJul 20, 2018, 19:48 IST
Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
CVS and Rite Aid are drugstore chains that sell everything from groceries to greeting cards.
Both CVS and Rite Aid have pharmacies that offer services like flu shots.
They each have a rewards program that can earn shoppers major discounts.
When we visited neighboring locations of CVS and Rite Aid in Westchester, New York, we found that the atmospheres of the stores were very different, and each offered a unique shopping experience.
CVS and Rite Aid are pretty much everywhere you go. Some towns - like Westchester, New York - have both stores just minutes down the road from one another.
CVS and Rite Aid carry everything from groceries and cosmetics to household supplies and greeting cards. Each store has a pharmacy, and the chains both have rewards cards that offer serious savings.
CVS operates between 8,000 and 10,000 stores in the United States, while Rite Aid has about 2,500.
When we visited locations of the two stores in Westchester, the stores' atmospheres were one of the most notable differences between them. The CVS we visited was dark and messy. There were dark gray carpeted floors, empty soda cans, old shopping lists, and no shortage of empty shelves. Security TVs loomed over every aisle, and it was eerily quiet.
Rite Aid wasn't quite as unwelcoming - it was mostly clean, but there were bins and shopping carts everywhere and a lot of empty shelves. It was also very quiet, but it was a more pleasant place to be in.
Even though Rite Aid had a nicer environment to shop in, CVS, which is in the midst of a merger with Aetna, saw same-store sales increase by 1.6% in the most recent quarter, while Rite Aid saw same-store sales decrease by 0.7% in its most recent quarter.
The cosmetics section was right near the entrance. The store carried typical drugstore brands like Maybelline, L'Oreal, and CoverGirl, and prices typically ranged from $8-$20 per product.
The cosmetics department didn't leave the best first impression of the store. Many shelves were half empty or falling apart.
Farther down the cosmetics aisle, I found the hair-accessories section. It was a mess — hairbands were tangled up, products were falling off the shelves, and there was even an empty soda can left behind.
Abandoned shopping lists sat on the empty shelves.
At the end of the aisle, a few shelves of jewelry were on display. Most pieces cost under $10 and were similar to what you might find at a store like Claire's.
There was a small aisle of greeting cards and candles ...
... an assortment of office supplies ...
... and tons of random products throughout the store. In one aisle there were "as seen on TV" products, picture frames, toys, and candy.
One aisle over from the candy carried nearly every vitamin, cold medicine, and supplement imaginable. It looked as though every single product carried a deal for members. It was hard to see the regular price because of how many bright yellow tags there were offering special rewards-member-only deals, a trend that continued through the whole store.
The CVS ExtraCare program offers shoppers things like members-only pricing and 2% back in ExtraBucks rewards points, which add up to additional perks and discounts each time you shop.
The pharmacy in the back of the store was visible from the grocery aisle. There was no waiting area, and people were wandering around, waiting for a pharmacist to be available to help them.
Near the grocery aisle was a refrigerated-foods aisle carrying drinks like milk, orange juice, and soda. The prices were on par with any other gas station or convenience store — for example, water bottles cost $1-3.
Beach chairs sat atop the refrigerators. Cleaning supplies, pet food, sodas, and home-repair tools were all squeezed into one corner of the store. All in all, it felt pretty disorganized.
By the register were candy and gum packages, most of which cost under $2. Even here, there were empty shelves and plenty of special deals for rewards members.
No one was at the register, and there were no employees in sight. Overall, the store was dark and had several empty shelves. There were a lot of great deals offered to ExtraCare cardholders, but it wasn't a nice place to shop.
Just down the road from CVS was a Rite Aid Pharmacy.
Cosmetics were immediately to the right of the entrance. Like CVS, it carried brands like Maybelline, L'Oreal, and CoverGirl for $6 to $20 a product. Most products in this section and throughout the store had a yellow tag with a special promotion for Wellness+ rewards members.
Rite Aid's Wellness+ rewards program allows shoppers to earn points on every purchase, which can then be used for savings later on. Almost every product had a rewards-member-only lower price.
The shelves were well-stocked and organized, but there were shopping carts and bins scattered around that blocked the aisles.
This wasn't limited to the cosmetics section — big blue bins were left throughout the store.
The jewelry was around the corner from the cosmetics section. It sold similar necklaces, bracelets, and earrings to CVS, and almost everything cost under $10.
There were two complete aisles carrying greeting cards and gift-wrapping supplies ...
... and office supplies had their own aisle as well.
The store also sold books and magazines ...
... and had a big "as seen on TV" section.
Rite Aid also carried toys, but the selection was underwhelming.
Groceries were towards the front of the store. The prices were on par with CVS. For example, gallons of milk cost $2.99. However, the store seemed to be running low.
There were hardly any water bottles left on the shelves ...
... but there were a ton of groceries. It definitely had more to offer than CVS in that department.
At the end of a long aisle was a pharmacy offering flu shots, blood-pressure tests, and other services. There were multiple aisles of cold medicines and supplements, as well as a small waiting area near the pharmacy, so customers weren't wandering around the store waiting.
As I made my way back to the exit, I went through an aisle filled with outdoor furniture, beach chairs, pool floats, and other seasonal products.
Even though Rite Aid had some obvious issues like abandoned shopping carts cluttering the aisles and low stock, it was still a drastically better environment to shop in than CVS. It was more organized, brighter, and cleaner. Because the prices are similar at each store and they both offer similar rewards perks, the atmosphere made Rite Aid the clear winner.
