Located at the Longwood Drive intersection, the former Rite Aid sits at the corner of what was previously the Laurel Mills Shopping Center. That shopping center has been completely cleared ahead of future residential focused development.
I realize many readers are going to jump on this one because it is literally 6 minutes from the Dollar Tree store that is open at the Lindenwold PATCO station… with a Dollar General located on the White Horse Pike in that area.
There’s also a Family Dollar store basically next to this former Rite Aid, also on Warwick Road. Family Dollar is more of a general merchandise store and Dollar Tree mostly tries to stay at the $1.25 price point but they have been adding more higher priced items.
This is a growing trend for Dollar Tree, who recently sold off their Family Dollar subsidiary.
Just a few days ago 42 freeway wrote about Dollar Tree’s plans to take over a Barrington Rite Aid in the connected White Horse Pike area.
While Dollar Tree has not confirmed this Warwick Road location, I have the actual plans for the store including the exterior rendering showing the Dollar Tree signage.
As part of normal commercial construction processes, projects such as this are put out for competitive construction bids… and this Dollar Tree Warwick Road conversion is listed.
Dollar Tree continues their aggressive growth through New Jersey with 236 locations already open.
They have positioned themselves to take advantage of closed Rite Aid stores where it makes sense ( and sometimes when it doesn’t) to continue the aggressive growth.
I’ve talked about this before but much of Camden County (closer to Philadelphia) has been completely developed 50 years ago with dense suburban neighborhoods… exactly where companies like Dollar Tree want to be.
But with everything built-out it can become difficult to find a sizable location within these populated communities.. and the closing of the Rite Aid stores are opening up new opportunities that have not existed for decades.
And for Rite Aid… while I’m not saying it’s free for them to open up their store locations, Rite Aid buildings are typically well-kept and perfectly sized for a Dollar Tree store. some cleanup, change of paint scheme, new signage and shelving… and they’re ready to go.
A very economical conversion.
And in regards to inventory, if you factor in how many stores they have in South Jersey… their distribution centers are very large, and opening up a new store basically doesn’t put a dent in their inventory supplies.
Recently I covered their relocation opening of the Blackwood Clementon store into a former Rite Aid, as well as Mullica Hill which took over a strip mall location of Rite Aid.
As mentioned, the Laurel Mills Shopping Center was demolished as part of a redevelopment effort which expects to turn it into mostly residential units, with a small commercial aspect along Warwick (next to Rite Aid)
That Laurel Mills project has been played due to a variety of challenging aspects between the developer and the town, which has led to some legal action, resulting in the delays. I would need to research a little bit further to understand where that sits.
Links and Location
Dollar Tree Stratford – Planned100 Warwick RdStratford NJ 08084
Website