Scenes from a Rite Aid closeout
Turning Point Parade and Festival Info; 'Better Off Dead'
By Darren Johnson
Journal & Press
If you enjoyed the Big Lots bankruptcy clearance sale earlier this year, you may want to head to a local Rite Aid, as they are going through something similar right now.
Here are some scenes from the one in Wilton.
Most of my photos are of empty shelves (the shelves are also for sale), but many of the shelves did still have products on them as of this past Saturday.
Rite Aid is one of those corporations I have fond nostalgia for. My mother would take me to a local one a lot as a kid. I could buy candy or loose leaf paper for school. They had good and affordable notebooks and supplies.
In my young adult years, the Rite Aid near me was known for selling beer at the lowest prices. Say an ice cold Utica Club suitcase?
Now the memories are fading away, for up to 70% off!
I wonder what company makes signs like these? They always look the same. I’ve been to closeouts for lots of chains; Sears, BonTon, Kmart, you name it. There must be a company that specializes in such signs and closeouts.
They also hire random people to sit by the highway with big signs pointing people to the closeout.
The workers usually just prop up the sign and sit in a lawn chair nearby, reading a book or their phone while cars whiz by.
How does one get such a job?
I was not really feeling it, though, at Rite Aid, and just bought a couple of reams of paper at $3.50 each. My wife got some lipsticks.
The employees have been there for a decade or two, or more, and now will be displaced. They seemed reflective about their time there. They’ve given a lot to Rite Aid. But maybe something like this can be a new start for them? Sometimes people stick with something just because it’s not bad — but maybe they’ll find a better employer worthier of their loyalty.
Drugstores have kind of lost their mojo since the opioid crisis, and Rite Aid was the weakest financially of the Big 3 (with CVS and Walgreens), so is the first of them to falter. Rite Aid’s decor has always seemed hokey and antiquated, compared to the other chains. Usually that’s a sign of corporate financial weakness, too.
Actually, with less competition, maybe this will help buoy the other drugstore chains a good while longer, despite competition from online drugstores, including now Amazon, as well as tighter profit margins allowed by the HMOs for prescription drugs. And chains like Dollar General undercut these stores for over-the-counter drugs, by a lot. But our Greenwich CVS does an exemplary job, and I’m willing to pay more for their level of care and expertise. So maybe that’s where Rite Aid went wrong, as I always felt they were second-rate when it came to the actual pharmacy as compared to CVS. Walgreens I considered decent, as well, but Rite Aid more so was about the other stuff they sold; the candies, loose-leaf paper and cheap beer.
30 Second Review: ‘Better Off Dead’
I see “Better Off Dead,” the early John Cusack 1985 teen movie, is now in the Top 10 on HBO Max. It surely wasn’t Top 10 in 1985 and somehow flew under the radar on VHS for many years until becoming more mainstream in the digital age.
I somehow missed seeing this movie until maybe five or so years ago, though feel like I’m otherwise pretty well versed in the 1980s teen movie genre.
By 1985, though, my life had taken a turn, and I was growing up too fast, and just missed it. If it, say, came out in 1983, I would have definitely seen it. Some kids I, at the time, considered less prominent in high school owned a copy of this movie and would quote it at their section of the lunch table constantly, which actually made me want to avoid it.
I queued it up again the other night — it’s solid from beginning to end, with eccentric imagery and jokes one after the next, without any of the raunchiness of other teen movies, though that can be fun sometimes, too.
And a lot of great teen character actors from that era are in it — the guy who played “Booger” in “Revenge of the Nerds” (Curtis Armstrong) and Diane Franklin, who also played the love interest in “The Last American Virgin” this time playing a French exchange student, along with Cusack, of course, who went on to star in blockbusters.
Essentially, Cusack’s Lane Meyer character wants to off himself as his girlfriend has left him for the captain of the school ski team, but somehow the plot brings Meyer to challenge the ski captain to a race down a treacherous slope with all of the high school watching.
In one scene at the top of the snowy mountain, the Armstrong character, who also seems to have a drug problem, starts snorting the snow with a straw he’d happen to have. He says: “This is pure snow! It's everywhere! Do you have any idea what the street value of this mountain is?”
Want to unwind with some wholesome nostalgic fun? Give this cult classic a watch. For what it is, it may be a perfect movie.
Turning Point Parade and Festival
The Turning Point Parade and Festival will return to Schuylerville from Sunday, Aug. 3, through Saturday, Aug. 9, offering a week of free public events celebrating the region’s Revolutionary War heritage.
The 30th annual Turning Point Parade kicks off the festivities at 1 p.m. on Aug. 3 along Broad Street, featuring more than 100 participants including marching bands, reenactors, veterans, and first responders. The parade regularly draws thousands of spectators and sets the stage for a week of historical, cultural and nature-based programming for all ages.
“Our goal is to bring history alive for every generation,” said Schuylerville Mayor Dan Carpenter. “Whether you are watching marching bands and reenactors, writing with a quill, or walking the trails of Burgoyne’s surrender, you are connecting with a story that changed the world—right here in Schuylerville.”
Events throughout the week include “Colonial Life for Kids,” “Writing the Revolution,” guided hikes, historical cruises, and living history presentations such as “An Evening with General Schuyler.” Programs will be held throughout the Village of Schuylerville and Hudson Crossing Park, and most are drop-in with no registration required. Some events, such as twilight walks and river cruises, require advance sign-up due to limited space.
The festival closes Aug. 9 with the Cardboard Boat Races and Turning Point Festival & Fireworks at Fort Hardy Park.
“This isn’t just a festival—it’s a bridge between past and present,” said Saratoga Town Supervisor Ian Murray.
Looking ahead to 2027 and the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, organizers plan to move the parade to Oct. 17—Surrender Day—marking the British defeat at Saratoga.
“The world watched when the British surrendered here,” said Saratoga Town Historian Sean Kelleher. “In 2027, the world is invited to remember.”
For a full schedule, visit www.turningpointparade.com.
And Now for the Comics — ‘Broom Hilda’ by Russell Myers
More tomorrow!