The former Rite Aid on Atwood Street has been vacant for nearly five months, and students are beginning to wonder what is next for the Oakland storefront.
Students mourned the loss of Rite Aid and its adjacent storefront, known colloquially as “Side Aid,” when it shut down in May, leaving a gap in student pharmaceutical and grocery needs. With a number of new restaurants opening in Oakland this past summer, including Cava and La Prima, students are more in favor of a convenience or grocery store to replace Rite Aid.
Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy for the second time since 2023 in May 2025, closing all of its storefronts around the country.
Across the Pittsburgh area, former Rite Aid locations are beginning to be replaced. The Rite Aid storefront in Squirrel Hill is in the process of becoming an independent food market called Murray’s. Giant Eagle is moving into former Rite Aid locations in Mount Washington and Sewickley.
For students like Bryn Delaney, a junior rehabilitation sciences major, Rite Aid was convenient because of its proximity to campus.
“The CVS is a little bit further, so it was really nice to have a pharmacy right on campus,” Delaney said.
The Rite Aid location was 0.3 miles and a five-minute walk away from the William Pitt Union. In contrast, the CVS on Centre Avenue is about a mile away and a five-minute journey by bus. The CVS on Forbes Avenue and Coltart Avenue is half a mile away and 10 minutes by bus.
Mirudhula Muruganandham, a first-year chemistry major, is in favor of a convenience store similar to Rite Aid in the location.
“I feel like we don’t have many stores that have essential stuff. We need more places with toothbrushes, like a convenience store,” Muruganandham said.
Other students like Alexandra Kazysta, a junior neuroscience major, said students need a grocery store in place of the Rite Aid because of the lack of affordable food.
“It’s a hassle to take a bus all the way to Giant Eagle or Aldi and then lug all of that back to our apartments,” Kazysta said.
Sabrina Otricelli, a sophomore urban planning and geographic analysis major, acknowledged the lack of grocery stores on campus.
“Oakland doesn’t have any good grocery stores. They’re all around us, but there are none in Oakland,” Otricelli said.
Rucha Katdare, a first-year neuroscience major, said that as a first-year student new to the city, the lack of affordable food quickly became a concern.
“There’s the Forbes Street Market, but it’s pretty expensive compared to other things,” Katdare said. “The Pitt-specific [shuttle] only takes you to stores on Sunday, but what about every other day of the week?”
While Forbes Street Market, the closest grocery store, is located on central campus, the prices are higher on average than the other options. Besides Forbes Street Market, the closest grocery stores to Oakland are the Trader Joe’s and Target on Penn Avenue, a 20-minute bus ride from the heart of campus.
Katdare said she is looking for something convenient and accessible when it comes to a replacement for the Rite Aid.
“Honestly, if they replace it with a restaurant that’s unaffordable, that just seems unreasonable,” Katdare said.
Ashley Beaumont, a junior biology major, discussed the numerous restaurant options on Forbes and her desire for more convenience store options as opposed to food.
“There is already so much food on Forbes,” Beaumont said. “I really don’t think Forbes needs more restaurants.”