Rite Aid

This review is for the pharmacy only. I’ve been consistently impressed with their customer service and willingness to help. The staff is always really friendly and accommodating.

I am really happy this Riteaid exists and is convenient for me. They added more product sales over the years, and many of my products are actually cheaper than CVS in the neighborhood.
Clientele have come and gone over the years but the nicest people are there now.
Good place to get lottery tickets.
They’ve also cleaned it up, so smells better! lol
Also, I’m really glad they fixed the flood of water at the street corner in the winter months, created after snow melts. Drainage actually works beautifully now! and I don’t have to go out into the middle of the street to cross. It was dangerous at that intersection. Thank you city of Cambridge.

One day when i bought something for like 2 dollars and only had a 20, the lady asked me if she could give me all the change in ones. I don’t even know why she would ask me that (tryna make it rain in rite aid), and I was like nah, i gotta buy a bus pass with the change and 18 ones at the fair machine will be a hassle. She had the biggggggggggest attitude, called the manager on the speaker and said «can you come to the front and bring me change, this customer has a problem with ones». THEN THE NEXT TIME I CAME, it was the same lady at the register and she remembered me! she said «on no, the girl who don’t like ones is here». Way to make your customer feel appreciated. oh, and about ²⁄₃ of the employees look sketchy AF.

Not wonderful, but not awful. Needs a little revamping and some lights would be good. Seems dark in here always.
But, they have some good sales so I go here when I need to — but my heart belongs to CVS.
Oh, tiny parking lot, too.

The people who work here are nice, especially the pharmacists. Plus, it’s not crowded, so I never feel rushed while browsing. I also think the prices might be lower here than at the CVS in Harvard Square, but maybe I’m imagining things.

This isn’t a drugstore as much as it is a store that sells drugs. This place is more run down that the Cambridgeport Saloon, and that place has been closed for nearly a decade.
Looks aside, this place always seems to not carry what I’m looking for, let alone things I’d consider impulse buys. The CVS in Central is stocked full of crap you certainly don’t need but will more than happily buy with its on sale: ice cream, candies, cleaning supplies, frozen tacos. This place, not so much. Every time I walk in here looking for some odd or end I find myself searching through the aisles like I’m in the freaking Minotaur’s Labyrinth just to find out from some employee after 10 minutes of searching that they don’t have it.
Now, I could forgive the fact it looks two homeless people away from being a crack house, and you need a map to find anything in here, but I cannot forgive the ridiculous hours. You close at 8pm on week nights? 8PM, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I’ve had some days where I wake up after 8pm — GAHHHHHHH I HATE YOU SO MUCH! Oh god, I think I need to sit down. Whew, I think its my heart… I’m just going to sit down and take some deep breaths. I’m just so angry… so angry. Wait… they what? They close at 5pm on the weekends? No, you’re kidding me, right? HOW IS THIS PLACE CONVENIENT?! THAT’S IT I“M GONNA — -HNNNNNNG

This is a rundown, dilapidated sort of drugstore. It looks forgotten, and a lot of the merchandise is marked down heavily or obviously expired/​ancient.
Despite looking fairly large on the outside, the inside is surprisingly small, and I have no idea why so much useless plastic seasonal crap is sold in the very center of the store. Also, probably ¼ of the store is devoted to generic candy.
The pricing is odd, too. Some of the items are pretty cheap compared to other drugstores in the area, but others are very expensive. At least there are never crowds in here, so I suppose this might be a good out-​of-​the-​way location to buy embarrassing items (rectal suppositories? anti-​fungal cream?).

Late one night last winter, during one of those epic snowstorms that you probably all remember, I had a migraine. This wasn’t a «go to sleep and wake up better migraine». This was a «holy %$@ it hurts so badly that I can’t even exist migraine». I was home alone, with nobody able to reach me in the snow to save me with some excedrin. I only had ibuprofen, which is apparently bad for migraines because of the risk of scary bleeding being exacerbated. Or something.
Anyway, I credit this Rite Aid with my sanity that night. Sure, the prices are consistently a teeny bit higher than CVS. Sure, the line goes pretty slowly, even when it is not super crowded (which it hardly ever is).
However, Rite Aid is like your slightly oddball but super reliable friend. I’m not sure why I like it, but it’s always available and always has just what you need to feel better — so I’ll keep coming back.
Note: I don’t actually treat friends this poorly. The metaphor worked better in my head…

I used to like this Rite-​Aid fine. Then they made the grave mistake of not accepting my internet coupons for Monster Energy Drinks. Or my coupons to get a $ 25 dollar gift card when I transferred a prescription. Why? Because the pharmacist with the comb-​over is a jerk (only to me, not my husband). I kind of felt sorry for him at first, due to the lame comb-​over, but he literally argued over some stupid point about whether or not he told me that the pharmacy manager wouldn’t be there on weekends. Because I am easily angered and can smell sexist condescension, I told him that, though I might look dumb, I am not as dumb as to come into the same pharmacy two days in a row unless I was told to do so. He persisted in this childlike («I did too tell you he was going to be in only on Monday!») fashion. I told him I didn’t like that he was a disrespectful jerk, and seemed to think that I did not understand basic phrases. Like I love going to the pharmacy EVERY day with my whining kids. Like I made this special trip just to annoy the man with the WORST COMB-​OVER the world has seen. Nevertheless, sensing that I had no regard for decorum, he shed all of his own: in a sweeping move of rudeness and condescension, he told me that he would write down the days that the manager would be there since I «couldn’t get it straight». I said, no thank you, I think I will remember our talk. I tossed my head up at the hideous drop-​ceiling to laugh and demean his feeble masculinity, and I walked away. To the CVS.

A review of the pharmacy at this location:
At one point in time I had the idealistic vision that living in the city, I could walk to most everything I needed. I chose the closest pharmacy, closest grocery store, etc. But NO. It didn’t take long for me to become fed up with these guys! As with most places, the pharmacy staff here changes. The only problem is that their service goes from fair to worse. I will give them credit to the fact that they are usually bad because they’re overstocked. But come on, if it’s a persistent problem, fix it… Anyway, one pharmacist there is knowledgeable, attentive and nice, but generally busy or not there. The rest can be trouble. I’ve waited over an hour while I have been very sick, had them not fill things because of errors, and just plain not fill something when I have asked. And they called me incessantly. So I have since taken my business elsewhere, and given up on my dream of walking to the closest pharmacy…

I wish I could avoid this place but it’s like the plague. I work a building down, so I’m there all the time. Their stock is ridiculous half the time, and while someone said a Rite Aid is a Rite Aid is a Rite Aid, I’ve been to better ones in the redneck town that I’m originally from where my family still lives. Pharmacy guys here can be jerks, clerks can be jerks, and OH SO SLOW. They’ve acquired some less horrible cashiers, yet there are two that remain that I wish I could pummel into the ground without being arrested. I went in looking for an antibiotic script to be filled recently and was told they didn’t have it – what? They did offer to order it in for the next day, but went down to CVS in Porter instead, lovely people there had me out in like 5 minutes.

This RiteAid is just sad. The whole store looks depressed. The store is small, so selection is somewhat sparse. Head to the CVS in porter square instead.

A Rite Aid is a Rite Aid is a Rite Aid.
It will never compare to the excellence of a Duane Reade, yet some how it seems like a better drug store than CVS. Especially that one in Harvard Square right next to the Coop.
This particular location never seems to be busy, but still operates kind of on the slow side. I once waited on line for 10 minutes to buy a pair of tweezers. The cashier was very nice about it though.