Say a last farewell to the Williamsville Inn, which recently was sold to a developer from Buffalo, NY to be demolished to make way for another Rite Aid! 100 local people turned up for an auction of items at the Inn recently, and paid low prices for tables, chairs and china. “It’s kind of sad to see it go,” said Peter Giglia of Buffalo, who used to visit the Inn. “Great, another Rite Aid,” he added. “We only have a thousand of those around.” The Inn was living on borrowed time. Last year residents defeated an attempt to build a Walgreens at the site, but Benderson Development Co of Buffalo managed to pry in a Rite Aid. “Nobody in the village wants a Rite Aid,” resident Eileen Torre told Buffalo News. “Our quaint village doesn’t need a Rite Aid. It can only harm our village.” The Williamsville project still needs approval from the village, and no public hearing has yet been scheduled. The 11,348 s.f. convenience store would have not one, but two, drive-through windows, so you can race your friends to see who can get their meds faster. Meanwhile, a 559 piece set of china dishes from the Inn — cups, soup bowls and platters, sold for only $225. Another Rite Aid developer in the town of Snyder has proposed demolishing a popular restaurant named Jimmy’s. In nearby North Tonawanda, Rite Aid is also building a new store within viewing distance of an existing Rite Aid. Rite Aide seems to have a habit of demolishing history in small towns, one redundant drug store at a time.
For further background on any of these historic Rite Aid achievements, contact Liz Kaszubski at: [email protected].
