Business closures have been affecting Temple’s campus and the surrounding areas during the summer and throughout the early part of the school year. Though some are part of nationwide trends, they continue to create difficulties for students to access certain resources.
During the summer, two Rite Aids near campus closed permanently due to company bankruptcy – one previously on Broad Street near Cecil B. Moore and the other at Broad and Susquehanna. These were conveniently located towards the south and north borders of campus near residence halls. The UPS franchise in the Howard Gittis Student Center also shut its doors.
Two restaurants near Vantage Apartments also recently closed. Potbelly Sandwich Shop shut its doors this summer and Blaze Pizza closed down and is being replaced by Cava this semester. Both sites are currently vacant.
“Temple doesn’t own any of that [off-campus] property, so we’re not directly involved in those closures,” said associate vice president of business affairs and administration Johnathan Reiter. “[But] my obvious recommendation would be to use the CVS instead, or also the bookstore sells a lot of convenience goods, so that could be an alternate source.”
The last day of business for the Cecil B. Moore Rite Aid was June 16. With its proximity to Morgan Hall, 1300 Residence Hall and academic buildings, students were able to utilize it for pharmaceutical pick-up, essential goods and as an Amazon locker location.
The Susquehanna Ave location closed earlier on May 16. Along with the Susquehanna Avenue location, the closing put more stress on other businesses that provide similar services.
“When I went to Rite Aid two years ago, it was just my roommate and myself looking for ant spray and it was very messy and disorganized,” said Connor Beck, a junior electrical engineering major. “I think it would be helpful if Temple tried to highlight other options that remain to try and prevent the CVS from getting overwhelmed.”
The UPS in the Student Center was able to return Amazon packages or receive students’ packages, which was a convenient and popular option for students. The closest next location with shipping or packing services is an off-campus FedEx at 1505 Cecil B. Moore Ave.
RITE AID BANKRUPTCY
The two Rite Aid’s closures are part of the company’s action after they filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in October of 2023. This is due in part because of a United States v. Rite Aid Corp. court case and company losses totalling more than$4 billion with year after year of posting losses.
The government found that Rite Aid participated in the opioid crisis by filling hundreds of thousands of unlawful prescriptions, either because they lacked medical purpose, were medically unnecessary or were not valid. Rite Aid will have to pay $7.5 million to the government, and have an unsecured claim of $401.8 million once the bankruptcy case is sorted.
Temple’s two campus closings are no surprise, as the company has closed more than 400 stores since October’s filing. In October, the number was 2,000 stores, but now they operate only 1,550. The company, headquartered in Navy Yard in Philadelphia, is the third-biggest standalone pharmacy chain in the U.S.
GETTING THE ESSENTIALS
If students don’t go to CVS or any other convenience store nearby for the goods that places like Rite Aid was able to carry, traveling or ordering delivery goods is necessary. Online delivery companies like Amazon are expensive alternatives.
“Personally, I don’t like online shopping for student essentials, and it was really nice to have a Rite Aid walking distance from my dorm,” said Madeline Nesnidal, a sophomore criminal justice major. “Living on campus, having a store like Rite Aid nearby is really convenient for me, and I wish we had more options nearby.”
Similar businesses allow students to still access some of the same products. The closest Walgreens is at Vine and Broad Streets, and the next closest CVS is at West Girard Avenue and 2nd Street.
However, Temple may not see some of the same businesses move into these spots. In 2021, CVS announced it would close 900 stores over three years due to changing “consumer buying patterns.” CVS currently has 443 locations in Pennsylvania, and 56 alone in the Philadelphia area.
LOST IN TRANSIT(ION)
The UPS location closure was as much of a surprise to the university as it was to the students, as the notice was put up suddenly and without prior warning, Reiter said. However, in March UPS announced they would close around 200 stores as they switch to automate many package shipping operations to reduce manual labor and save money.
According to UPS, since the demand for brick-and-mortar shipping stores has gone down with the ease of delivering packing materials, stores have no reason to stay open as they try to turn their distribution centers into “automated package hubs”.
However, rates of package thefts have risen in recent years and some students still find use for having a safe area to receive their mail. A congressional inquiry into the USPS’s operations in Pennsylvania found that official mail theft complaints in Philadelphia rose by 10% between 2020 and 2022.
In an October 2023 study from Security.org, 44% of survey respondents complained that they experienced package thievery at some point. These thefts have reportedly cost an aggregate value of more than $8 billion in that year. Mailbox rental companies like Package Safe Club in Northern Liberties or Fishbox in Society Hill have seen a rise in demand as people look for alternative options to front-door delivery service.
UPS has a drop box on Liacouras Walk that students can still utilize. The FedEx location off campus can also still package, send and receive items from its Cecil B. Moore residence. But for many students, the Student Center location was convenient for its proximity to campus.
“I use that UPS location for my Amazon returns, and now I’m just printing the labels out myself and putting them in the drop box there, which is a pain in the neck but it’s the only option that I have right now,” Reiter said. “I would just ask students to really be patient. We know it’s a big service that’s no longer being offered. We know that’s infuriating for students, because it’s infuriating for me.”
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