Industry documents indicate that AutoZone is set to take over a former Rite Aid at the busy intersection of Black Horse Pike and Cross Keys Roads.
While the Williamstown building is a modern style at a very busy intersection, for some reason over the last 15 years no one has signed up to be a permanent tenant until now. While I couldn’t pinpoint the year Rite Closed the location, in Google Street Maps I had to go all the way back to 2008 to see the property sign showing “Rite Aid”.
Since around 2010 or so the only retail activity seen at the former Rite Aid property has been for fall seasonal use as a variety of Halloween stores including; Spirit Halloween, Halloween City and Halloween Adventure.
If you’re unfamiliar with AutoZone, they are an American retailer offering aftermarket automotive parts and accessories.
Founded 45 years ago they now have over 7000 locations and 2023 revenue totaling over $17 billion… Making them the largest retailer within their automotive category.
A key competitor of theirs in the automotive aftermarket category is Advanced Auto Parts who recently announced they are closing 700 locations. AutoZone on the other hand has no real negative store closing news circulating and MarketBeat.com states that of 24 Wall Street Analysts covering AutoZone the consensus identifies the stock as a “Moderate Buy”
Currently construction bids are being requested for the conversion of the space into an AutoZone. I also found other associated documents online and even an Autzone Referral/Job Alert website page that lists the store number and full address in the location selector.
For the former pharmacy building in Williamstown honestly it is surprising to me that the property has not been leased in all this time!
Others are likely to note that there are three other AutoZone locations about 2 1/2 miles away from this intersection… to the north and south on the Black Horse Pike, as well as to the east on Cross Keys Rd.
That being said this location is a solid choice with a considerable amount of traffic, customers moving towards the Sam’s Club and Geets diner across the street, and also there is considerable suburban development to the West in Washington Township including Home Depot… all who will find this is a very convenient location for Automotive parts.
At almost 14,000 square feet this is a large building for a standard AutoZone, which are typically half that size so we’ll have to wait and see if this building is divided into two units or if AutoZone is making this a larger area hub store.
Links and Location
AutoZone #10527 (Planned)
2099 N Black Horse Pike
Williamstown NJ