Westbard Rite Aid to close December 6

The Rite Aid at 5350 Westbard Avenue is scheduled to close December 6, 2019. A closing sale is underway. Both the Rite Aid and the Capital One bank next door in the Westwood Shopping Center will be demolished in Phase 1 of the redevelopment of the property by Regency Centers.

However, a source tells me the bank is required by law to give its customers 90 days' notice of a branch closure, and has not done so yet. The bank and drug store stand where a public square and new retail structure will be in the future development. Construction office trailers have been appearing at the far end of the shopping center parking lot over the last several months, but I haven't seen any demolition permits requested yet for the property.

Westbard Rite Aid now a Walgreens...sort of (Photos)

The Rite Aid store in the Westwood Shopping Center at 5350 Westbard Avenue has been acquired by Walgreens, as a part of the two chains' merger. But the store is not immediately being rebranded as Walgreens. Right now, only the pharmacy is branded as Walgreens.

Walgreens says many of the Rite Aid stores it has officially acquired will eventually become full-blown Walgreens stores, with Walgreens product inventory rather than what Rite Aid currently sells. Some stores will close altogether. The fate of the Westbard location is unclear, as the building itself will be among the first to be torn down in the redevelopment of the shopping center. That redevelopment plan will first have to be approved by the Montgomery County Planning Board.

According to Walgreens, you can no longer use your Balance Rewards points at Rite Aid stores they control. However, you can still earn wellness+/Plenti points, and those will be carried over into the Walgreens reward system eventually. At the same time, you cannot use Walgreens points and coupons until the store is officially converted into a Walgreens in the future.

Rite Aid sale prices and coupons will still be honored at the store. The pharmacy now is part of the Walgreens prescription insurance network, and "accepts most insurance plans." You will immediately be able to enroll in Walgreens' JustRx savings program; membership is free. Cards are supposed to be available from the pharmacist, or at JustRx.com. Longtime residents will agree this store will always be Drug Fair

Rite Aid, robbed last month, posts Wanted poster (Photo)

The Rite Aid store in the Westwood Shopping Center that was hit by pharmacy robbers last month now has a Wanted poster up at the entrance. Both suspects in that robbery, which shut down the store for most of the day it took place, fled and remain at large. Interestingly, the poster with photos of suspects sought by police is from the Metropolitan Police Department, not Montgomery County.

Suspects who appear are said to have been involved in robberies at Rite Aid stores in Adelphi and Washington, D.C. It's unclear if they are the same men who robbed the Westbard Rite Aid, but it wouldn't make much sense to have the poster up in Bethesda if they aren't.

A second proactive step the store has taken, is to hire a security guard, a very unusual addition to grocery and drug stores in the 20816 zip code. The reward of up to $5000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Rite Aid robbery suspects has been issued by Rite Aid itself, not D.C. police.

Photo: Cordell Pugh

Westbard Rite Aid robbery update

I have an update on the robbery of the Rite Aid on Westbard Avenue in the Westwood Shopping Center. The robbery caused the store to remain closed for much of Sunday.

2nd District Montgomery County police commander Captain David Falcinelli says there were two alleged robbers. The two suspects entered the store around 1:30 PM Sunday afternoon, and proceeded to jump over the pharmacy counter. They grabbed narcotics from the pharmacy shelves, and fled the store.

Falcinelli says the Montgomery County Police Department Robbery Section is currently investigating the incident.

Rite Aid on Westbard Ave. closed after robbery today (Photos)

The Westbard Rite Aid in Bethesda was closed much of today, after the store was robbed early this afternoon. From what few details I've been able to find out so far, a robber reportedly demanded drugs at the store's pharmacy and fled. 

The store was then closed, with a sign in the front door declaring the Rite Aid a crime scene. Two police cruisers were parked outside at the Westwood Shopping Center. Customers with urgent prescriptions to be picked up were directed to the Potomac store. 

There has been no official statement released by Montgomery County police as of press time.

Rite Aid reopens in Bethesda after car crashes into store (Photos)

Rite Aid has reopened at 5350 Westbard Avenue in Bethesda. The Westwood Shopping Center drugstore was ordered by Montgomery County to close after a BMW sedan smashed through the side wall, and into the store, last Thursday. While the store is open again, the gash in the building remains covered with plywood.

Car crashes into Rite Aid at Westwood Shopping Center, store closed for repairs (Photos)

A BMW sedan crashed through the side wall of the Rite Aid drugstore at Westwood Shopping Center after 4:00 PM yesterday, damaging merchandise and shutting down the store. There were no injuries reported, but the driver and cause have not been identified.

The car entered the store from the parking spaces along that side of the building. That parking has been there for nearly 60 years, yet this is the first time this has happened by my recollection.

The Westbard Avenue store has been temporarily condemned by Montgomery County building inspector Daniel Dyer. Store management is directing customers to their Potomac and New Mexico Avenue NW locations until repairs to the side wall can be completed. That work, and a massive cleanup, were underway last evening when these photos were taken.

HEY,

WHO TURNED OUT

THE LIGHTS?

Capital Properties Plunges One-Third of

Westwood Shopping Center into Darkness,

Reducing Safety of Patrons, Neighbors

Is County Energy Tax to Blame?

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive!!!

A full third of the Westwood Shopping Center property on Westbard Avenue in Bethesda has been shrouded in darkness for consecutive nights. This despite a recent spike in crime in the Westbard area.

In fact, as previously reported here, a resident of the Park Bethesda apartments directly across the street from the shopping center was a victim of armed robbery January 19. The crime occurred in the Park Bethesda parking lot.

Montgomery County Police have added additional officers to the area at night since then. Residents note that those officers continue to be in evidence as recently as last night. No further robberies have been publicly reported since police stepped up patrols.

It is therefore strange that shopping center owner Capital Properties, of New York, would order - or allow - major portions of the parking lot to be pitch black at night.

Ironically, the darkest area is the large parking area between the Rite Aid and the property line alongside the Kenwood Place condominium driveway. Kenwood Place continues to light its driveway. It's ironic, though, because that area of the shopping center is directly across the street from Park Bethesda, where the night robbery took place just four weeks ago.

This darkness is dangerous for several reasons. The robbers who struck in West Bethesda, and across the DC line in NW, are still at large.

Second, many Park Bethesda residents walk across that section of the lot after shopping, to reach the only signal-controlled crosswalk for the building on Westbard. They have no choice unless they drive. We keep hearing about walkable communities, so why would the county and Capital Properties discourage those practicing that lifestyle? The past several nights, those residents have had to make a dangerous walk through a dark area, where anyone could be lurking.

Third, the loss of lighting now makes the job of the police more difficult. If they spot or chase a suspect, they will have to employ their own flashlights or mounted light cannons on their cruisers to illuminate that area.

Fourth, both sidewalks along Westbard are now darker at night, without the illumination usually provided by the shopping center.

Fifth, with lights turned off at the other end as well, more opportunity for would-be thieves to lurk around that wing of Kenwood Place exists.

The portion of the lot directly in front of Giant, Rite Aid, and other businesses remains well-lit.

So why are the lights out? Of course there might be temporary repairs underway. But if this is intended to be permanent, one must assume it is to save money in regard to the county's punitive, draconian energy tax.

The darkened portions of the lot tend to be used only sporadically, for afterschool sports, nighttime patrons of Bowlmor, and those visiting businesses in the commercial wing of Kenwood Place.

But while "smart" growth gurus would claim that's "excessive, wasteful surface parking," the space has been much appreciated by everyone from truckers to the National Treasure 2 film crew. In fact, the Obama campaign used the Westwood Shopping Center parking lot as a staging area on the day of his historic election in 2008.

This is a well-regarded shopping center by longtime residents, and features what is arguably the best Giant in Montgomery County.

It's time to reconsider the unwise decision to severely reduce lighting in the property's parking lot. Particularly at a time when crime activity has been higher than usual in the area. This is another unforced error by Capital Properties, who are seeking to redevelop the Westbard area. Decreasing the safety of the area is not a winning public relations strategy. Also, why were the high-quality shopping center signs replaced with lesser designs that aren't illuminated? That move had reduced lighting already.

Perhaps the blackout was not a decision made in New York. But it's Capital Properties' shopping center now, and they have ultimate control over all decisions there.

In the wise words of Morgan Freeman, "Turn it back on, man!"