Our town’s Rite Aid is going away and we’re a little poorer for it

It’s where you’d go to grab a last-minute birthday card. Or buy your tweezers, vitamins or a cheap and tasty ice cream cone. When your kid had a school project, you could count on finding a poster board and coloring pens.

Now our local Rite Aid in South Pasadena, like many across California, is going away. And most people in our town say they’re a little sad about it.

It’s not the death of just one store, but another marker on what seems like the slow, inexorable demise of many drug stores and all sorts of retail outlets. The local mall remains open but stands in an eerie quiet, even on weekends. The only department store nearby seems to have less on its shelves every month.

None of us want to live in an Amazon-only world. But it feels like we’re headed in that direction. Do we really have to order our razor blades from one of those bro-ish mail-order “shaving clubs?”

In the spirit of keeping neighborhood-friendly commerce alive, Essential California is asking for your nominations: What’s the beloved local shop or store your town can’t live without? It could be a chain store, but more likely its locally owned and unique. What makes it so special? Email EssentialCalifornia@latimes.com and we may write about your favorites.

Meanwhile, what’s happening to Rite Aid?

The company once operated 5,000 stores nationally, before paring back to about 2,100 in 2023, the same year it declared bankruptcy. The firm cited a crushing debt load and high rents for underperforming stores.

Rite Aid announced another round of store closures that same year, shuttering 31 locations in California. In Los Angeles County, stores in Glassell Park, Mar Vista, Alhambra, Burbank, and Long Beach’s Bixby Knolls shut down. Orange County lost half a dozen stores — including ones in Costa Mesa, Dana Point, Santa Ana and Yorba Linda.

Over the last year, it was hard to miss the signs that the South Pasadena store was on its way out. The most basic items went out of stock. Shelves slowly emptied. On the last day of July a text to loyal patrons made it final: “Rite Aid at 914 Fair Oaks Ave. has closed.” Actually, the pharmacy had closed, but the store remained open — with mostly bare shelves and up to 90% discounts — through August 24.

The boxy brick building, sunk below street level, was hardly an architectural gem. A couple of people focused on its sad final months and said “good riddance.” But dozens of others answered my social media query to talk about what they’d miss about the store.

The ice cream — which dated to Rite Aid’s predecessor, Thrifty — got heaps of love. People lived for the Black Cherry, or Coconut Pineapple or Chocolate Malted Krunch. They liked the low prices, with one local recalling a time when a cone went for just 25 cents. Angie Walker took her kids for flu vaccines, knowing she could soften the blow with an ice cream cone “immediately afterwards.”

Fans particularly liked the short guy who always hustled to the counter, working as if scooping that next cone really meant something. During summer months, our Rite Aid would move 300 gallons of ice cream a month. ”I will mostly miss the awesome ice cream clerk,” said Kari Afschar. “He was there for as long as I can remember.”

Many people recalled that the pharmacists would actually pick up the phone and answer questions, unlike other chains that shunted you into voicemail-hell. They talked about how many employees remembered your name and your needs. No wonder, four of the final seven staffers spent more than 30 years with Rite Aid. Becky Rios called one pharmacist “an absolute gem.”

In a pinch for one last stocking-stuffer for my wife one Christmas a few years ago, I rushed out and found a pair of plush winter gloves. They were fuzzy and purple. Alison wondered where I found such a treasure.

“At the House of Incredibly Nice Gloves,” I deadpanned. Later, I conceded they’d come from Rite Aid, and she still loved them. It may have been just a chain store. But it was our chain store.

Today’s top stories

Gov. Gavin Newsom was in Los Angeles to announce an effort to quickly redraw the state’s congressional districts at the Japanese American Museum in Los Angeles on Aug. 14, 2025.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Newsom calls for a special November election to block Trump from ‘rigging’ 2026 midterms

• Gov. Gavin Newsom said California voters will be asked in a Nov. 4 special election to approve new congressional districts to decrease the size of the state’s Republican delegation.
• The effort is a response to GOP-led states, notably Texas, attempting to redraw their congressional maps to decrease Democratic ranks in the narrowly divided U.S. House of Representatives at President Trump’s behest.
• If the effort is successful, it could blunt changes in GOP states to boost the number of Republicans in Congress.

Home Depots across L.A. become a battleground in the new phase of ICE raids

• Since a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting federal agents from targeting people solely based on their race, language, vocation, or location, the number of arrests in Southern California declined in July.
• But over the last two weeks, some higher-profile raids have returned, often taking place at Home Depot locations, where migrant laborers often congregate looking for work.
• On Thursday, federal agents moved on a Home Depot parking lot in Monrovia, sending laborers running, including a man who jumped a wall and onto the 210 Freeway, where he was fatally struck.

L.A. Olympics will be the first to offer venue naming rights

• More than 40 years after L.A. produced the most financially successful Olympic Games in history, the 2028 Olympics in L.A. will feature a new advertising revenue path for the Games.
• Historically, the International Olympic Committee has sought to limit corporate influence by keeping venues free from advertising.
• The additional revenue opportunities from naming rights agreements will help cover what LA28 has promised will be a privately funded Games.

Fears of immigration raids cloud LAUSD’s first day

• The L.A. school year is beginning with lookouts for ICE — as well as normal thrills and jitters.
• For many students whose education was disrupted by the January wildfires, the school year is starting in a new location.
• Here is where displaced students enrolled.

What else is going on

• California valley fever cases hit record highs again in 2025, the state reports.
• An L.A. high school senior was walking his dog. Then immigration agents grabbed him.
• A blind Bay Area woman conquered snowboarding and the Boston Marathon. Now she’s taking on Kilimanjaro.
• California’s signature climate effort is up for renewal — and it’s a fight.
• With Israel maintaining a blockade of Gaza as it continues its war on Hamas, aid groups and countries are airlifting aid into the enclave.

Commentary and opinions

• Trump’s deal with Nvidia puts our national security up for sale to the highest bidder, writes business columnist Michael Hiltzik.
• A new climate report without denial and without excessive alarm bells feels “revolutionary” to contributing writer Veronique de Rugy.
• Contributing writer Matt K. Lewis says AI will be more disruptive than COVID. Which party can seize the moment?

This morning’s must reads

Food

An old-school Chinatown market tried hanging on. Assaults, raids, gentrification proved too much

After 18 years, Chinatown mainstay Yue Wa market announces its closure.

Aug. 14, 2025

Other must reads

• More and more books are being banned. SoCal libraries find a solution.
• Hundreds of Californians have been paid $10,000 to relocate to Oklahoma. Did they find paradise?
• Danielle Brooks had a hit with “Minecraft.” The return of “Peacemaker” adds to her super year.

For your downtime

The family-friendly event celebrates the 1.7-mile West Hollywood stretch as an iconic rock ‘n’ roll hot spot.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• Music: A nostalgic vinyl fair takes over the Sunset Strip tomorrow. Here are five things you should know.
• Concerts: ENHYPEN — set to perform at BMO Stadium tomorrow — aren’t the boys they were when they started their K-pop careers.
• Movies: In “Highest 2 Lowest,” Spike Lee swings between tonal extremes — but not always effectively.
• Outdoors: Here are three L.A. hikes that will impress out-of-town guests.

Staying in

• Books: “Sweetener” is a fun sapphic romp brimming with identity confusion.
• Television: Here’s how John Slattery and Milo Callaghan learned to spar (and put on an accent) in “The Rainmaker,” which is premiering today on USA Network.
• Recipes: Here’s a recipe for tofu bowls with avocado, cabbage and turmeric tahini.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

And finally ... your photo of the day

Local band Left on Cypress performs on a recent weekend at Glendora Continental, a neighborhood hub that stays open until 2 a.m. and has annual celebrations for Halloween and New Year’s Eve.

(Catherine Dzilenski / For The Times)

Today’s great photo is from Times contributor Catherine Dzilenski, who captured a local band, Left on Cypress, performing at Glendora Continental. The Basque-owned restaurant is one of the last of its kind left in California, but its 45-year history may be coming to an end soon.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Diamy Wang, homepage intern
Izzy Nunes, audience intern
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

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