CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid Corp., whose corporate associates have been successfully working remotely since the early days of the pandemic, plans to embrace a remote-first approach going forward.

The company plans to establish an official headquarters in Philadelphia designed specifically for in-person collaboration and company gatherings, rather than for office spaces. Additionally, planned regional collaboration centers across the country will provide opportunities for Rite Aid teams to come together for in-person meetings, training and development, and more.

The company is also formalizing its work-from-home policies and supporting remote workers with new technology and other resources.

“This announcement signals the start of a bright new day at Rite Aid,” chief executive officer Heyward Donigan says. “We’re changing our business from the inside out, and our reimagined workplace is the latest exciting step toward the future of this company. We believe in remote work, and as we lean into it for the long term, we are investing in a physical footprint that will facilitate its best version. We’ve heard directly from our associates that teams want and need to meet in-person, and we think we’ve found the right balance between the flexibility of remote work and the power of on-site collaboration.”

The new remote-first approach was developed after an internal survey found that the vast majority of Rite Aid’s corporate associates preferred working from home, believing that it offered greater flexibility, more productivity and a better work-life balance. At the same time, the surveyed associates also expressed an interest in having opportunities to meet, collaborate and learn together in-person. Rite Aid’s new approach aims to address both of those needs.

“This transformation of our workforce brings Rite Aid into the modern era of work,” Rite Aid chief operating officer Jim Peters says. “We can recruit the best talent regardless of their location, and we can give our corporate associates the freedom and flexibility that today’s workers crave. Our new headquarters and collaboration centers will have a unifying effect on our enterprise and serve as an important space for our teams to be together when needed. I think it’s especially meaningful that these changes were shaped by our associates, whose input we solicited along the way — this approach aligns with one of our core values: Get there together.”