Borrowing a page from major league sports, “upon further review,” the Rite Aid pharmacy at the Fairplain Plaza in Benton Harbor will not be leaving the market. It looks like you can thank Rob Cleveland and his team at Cornerstone Alliance for broadening the lines of communication with the owners and developers of the Plaza to avert the closure and save the retailer from packing up.
Cornerstone President Rob Cleveland confirmed this afternoon that Rite Aid has been successful in completing a new lease with the Fairplain Plaza owners Lormax Stern Development in Bloomfield Hills outside of Detroit. Cleveland tells me, “All the credit goes to Daniel Stern and his team at Lormax Stern.” He adds, “Daniel and I are speaking on a regular basis about potential leads for the vacant properties in the Plaza. He is a huge champion for that shopping area, and understands its importance to our community.”
Just three weeks ago, Lormax Stern Leasing Agent Andrew Luckoff had told us that Rite Aid’s lease was expiring and they had elected not to renew for the 11,180 square foot building at the corner of M-139 and Napier in Benton Charter Township. Developers had erected a new sign offering the space for lease in mid-February.
After seeing Target depart the shopping center, Rob Cleveland rapidly deployed his resources to see if Rite Aid’s lease could be salvaged and the business retained, especially in light of the fact that it had just undergone a substantive interior makeover last year. Cleveland says that Daniel Stern, “Has been very proactive and creative about finding ways to attract and keep current tenants,” at the Plaza. He adds, “We are very pleased that Rite Aid has chosen to stay in their current location.”
Another factor in the lease equation was whether or not Walgreens deal to buy nearly 2,000 Rite Aid stores would impact the local market. Rite Aid corporate still owns more than 2,500 stores across the nation, and the Benton Harbor store is one of them. Had Walgreens been successful in its original $17-billion bid three years ago to buy all of Rite Aid, the store’s fate might not have ended up this way, since there is a Walgreens store diagonally across the intersection from Rite Aid.
The Benton Harbor Rite Aid is joined in the Berrien County marketplace by three other stores including Rite Aid stores at 6535 Paw Paw Avenue in Coloma, 612 St. Joseph Avenue in Berrien Springs, and 3681 Shawnee Road in Bridgman.
Lease agreements in private business are rarely disclosed, so terms of the deal to continue Rite Aid operations in Benton Harbor are not being shared for competitive reasons.
