DETROIT (WXYZ) — When Syed Hassan learned last fall that all 186 Rite Aid stores in Michigan would close, he says everyone was in shock.
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“I don't think we expected that we would be completely shut down, the building would be completely empty,” said Hassan, who worked at Rite Aid for 12 years. “We all felt like someone was going to buy us out, and eventually we'd all have a place to go.”
The sudden closures left thousands of workers scrambling for new jobs and customers without a place to fill prescriptions.
Tiffany Threatt, who worked with Hassan at Rite Aid, recalled the uncertainty she and her coworkers faced.
“It was terrible, to actually think about it,” Threatt said. “I know one of the pharmacists had just redone their basement, paid in full. Another pharmacist's son was going to Michigan State. People's incomes are messed up right now.”
Customers like Gwendolyn King, who relies on medications for chronic pain, were left wondering how they would find another pharmacy that worked with their insurance.
“You kinda panic,” King said.
“It was disappointing," said Threatt. "You should have seen the customers’ faces."
Hassan said customers repeatedly asked him if he would open a new pharmacy.
FULL INTERVIEW: Syed Hassan talks about Rite Aid closing and his new pharmacy
“A lot of patients were like, ‘Hey, why don’t you do it?’” Hassan said. “I wasn’t a business person.”
But with the community in need, Hassan stepped up. After nearly a year of planning, he opened Fenkell RX Pharmacy this spring, just across the street from the Detroit Rite Aid where he once worked.
“When he opened, I was like, ‘Thank you, Jesus,’” said King.
Hassan has already hired Threatt and hopes to bring on more of his former Rite Aid colleagues as his business grows.
“I just want the community to know that we are back,” Hassan said.
For now, Fenkell RX Pharmacy is more than just a business—it's a symbol of resilience in a tight-knit Detroit community still reeling from the loss of a major corporation.
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