Ticking time bomb that is now being set off: Rite Aid on Fair Lane in Placerville. What new store should replace it??

 

The Rite Aid on 31 Fair Lane in Placerville was announced on this new list on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/RiteAid/comments/18se38d/additional_19_closures/. And it is in a former Payless Drug and former Value Giant location. I don't know how many Value Giant or Payless locations still operate as a Rite Aid. If you know more, please let me know. This location opened sometime in the 1970s when the shopping center was built with Safeway as the other anchor, which moved to the new Missouri Flat Village with a new and bigger store 20 years ago. Big Lots now occupies that anchor space. 

Here are some photos of this store: 

Here is my description of what I saw in this store:

I noticed the walls were bare of decor and the only inside signage is the hanging aisle signs, which I was glad to see. I was disappointed that there was no Thrifty Ice Cream sold at the store. Do old Rite Aids have Thrifty Ice Cream carts, or is it just the new Customer World and Wellness stores that have those carts??

I'm interested in how this store has operated for this long, since it hadn't received the newest remodel, but did receive the new signage. And it is still operating after Rite Aid has closed several stores in the Sacramento area, including pulling out of the Tahoe region. Rite Aid has another Placerville store that is well tended to and has been remodeled twice since RA1. As I have seen how businesses operate, I think that a store avoiding a remodel for 20+ years while all the other locations having received remodels is like a dead man walking. Knowing the store has no prospects of growth and it is a lost cause, but they've kept it open for some reason. I expected this store to close down when Rite Aid released their first couple lists in October of this year. Have they intended to close this store for years, but they are still making money on something with the store or can't get out of their lease?? Or as what I think is most likely, have they intended to remodel this store, but they are held up by the county in permits?? What do you think??

Here is a photo on Flickr of this location when it was a Value Giant: https://www.flickr.com/photos/romleys/1834914062/

Interesting thing, a week earlier after I visited this store, I got the news that they are closing what I think is their last complete late-90s/early 2000s store with the old sign: https://www.reddit.com/r/deadmalls/comments/18ilnc2/an_old_looking_rite_aid_in_chino_hills_is_this/. If you live near this store, make sure you take some pictures.

Which brings me to the question, what store should replace this Rite Aid location?? Maybe a JoAnn Fabrics, Michaels, or Hobby Lobby. We could use a good arts and crafts store up the hill. I am guessing it will most likely become a Planet Fitness, or a Smart and Final Extra.