Final days of the Rite-Aid former K&B Lake Charles La.

We are taking a final look at the former K&B in Lake Charles Louisiana. Once the sale of Rite Aid to Walgreens went through in 2018, this store and many other locations were immediately targeted for closure. Many Rite Aid locations were never remodeled and still retained the classic K&B look. The loss of these retro stores is yet another blow to the once vibrant retail history of Louisiana companies. Even though Rite Aid took these stores over, they kept them mostly the same with the exception of a few replacement stores. I doubt Walgreens will keep any of these stores open without significant remodels so the K&B look will be gone. 

The store was being cleared out, but only a few items were marked down.

The purple really stood out at the old pharmacy.

This could be a photo from 2018 or 1997. You would not know the difference.

Rite Aid had partnered with GNC to bring a variety of items into their stores.

I had to get a photo of this aisle sign before it is gone. The aisle sign is from Rite Aid, one of the few things that were changed when they took over the store.

A few more old school purple signs in the cosmetics section.

In this photo we can see remnants of K&B, Rite Aid, and now Walgreens.

A cheap coverup banner to advertise the change. When Rite Aid took over K&B, most of us were not happy. Now the last part of K&B that Rite Aid did not change is going away. I can see why these stores are going away, this store was virtually empty on my many visits here over the years. There was no drive-through pharmacy or a good option to build one at this location. There are 2 Walgreens stores less than a mile from this one, so why would they keep this one too. Thankfully there is a nearby Goodwill thrift store that was also a K&B to visit. That store still has the same floor, and the former pharmacy is still painted purple. It is not as well taken care of as this store was unfortunately.  

Yet another photo that could either be from 2018 or 1997, even the clock is old school.

Here are a few more views of the store.

The front of the store. 

A familiar sight, the Kroger that was located here moved to a new location a couple miles away.

A tornado hit this building which was a former Kroger, a few months after these photos were taken. This news report was taken from the right side of the store. The roof of the former Kroger was being repaired when I drove by in March 2019.

The view of the shopping center with the former Kroger to the right. The loss of Rite Aid will be a huge blow for this rapidly declining center.

This little piece of K&B still remains, long after the company was sold to Rite Aid in 1997.

Second trip, about a week before the store closed.

The purple ICE logo was still in place, just about all of the other ones were long gone.

Not many items on sale, this aisle looks normal despite most others being cleared out. 

The road sign to the shopping center.

Market Basket Orange Tx.

Now for a blast from the past. Photos from August 2018. You may remember my previous post located here on the shopping center where this supermarket is located. 

This supermarket has stood the test of time and retained all of the 1980's fixtures, neon, and mirrored ceilings in certain spots. By today's standards, this is a small supermarket. There are 13 regular sized aisles with a butcher, bakery, deli counter, floral department, and customer service booth. The store is in excellent shape and the people who work here take great pride in keeping the store in good shape. The store could easily go another decade or so if it stays kept up without needing an update. There are some similarities in this store to some of the older Fiesta stores in the Houston area. I hope these stores never change, most of today's grocery stores are boring and bland in my opinion.

Anyway, enjoy the trip back in time to the 1980's.

Mirrored effect on the signage, with a 1980's font.

Green ring of neon in the produce department.

Neon sign and mirrored ceilings in the floral department.

A look at some of the interesting generic products they carry here. Larry The Cable Guy mac and cheese?

Now we venture off into the main part of the store.

The checkouts. It is worth noting that the store uses a strange type of buggy that fits over the checkout. It is hard to explain, you just have to check it out for yourself if you are ever in the area.

Keeping up with the theme of the store, but with red lettering.

Frozen food aisle.

Very cool wood design with mirrored glass and neon lights! There is so much going on in this part of the store. The bakery is literally in a corner of the store.

Kinda misleading because the dairy aisle is one over, but this was the best way to see that sign.

Same with the cold beer aisle.

Here is the dairy section with the cool neon rings.

Another view of the corner bakery and deli.

Keeping up with the theme.

A view of the thank you for shopping at Market Basket sign above the registers.

A better view of the checkout counters.

As you can kind of see, the ceiling above the checkouts goes up and creates a 3-D half oval.

The exterior of the store.