As I wrote in "Read This Post If You Want to Learn the Real Reason for the Bartell Drugs Apocalypse," Bartell Drugs' former CEO, Kathi Lentzsch, and chairman, George Bartell, sold the old and family-owned company to Rite Aid for a reported $90 million. The problem with this sale, which George Bartell described as a "fit" that would "best serve the needs of our customers," is that the buyer basically had no real money. Why? Because Rite Aid never survived the debts its second boss, Martin Grass (the son of its founder, Alex Grass), accumulated during the "high-flying '90s."

Lentzsch and Bartell ignored or knew nothing about this fact when they sold one of the region's most famous businesses to the long-sinking Harrisburg-based corporation in 2020. Two years after the deal was done, Rite Aid began closing "underperforming" Bartell stores all over the city and beyond—last week, a Bartell store in Everett entered the region of the shades. What is not in sight is an end to these closures. Also not in sight is the toll this destruction of value has had on former workers. What this post will present is one such worker. They've been employed by Bartell Drugs for more than a decade. They are now living “paycheck to paycheck.” And that’s if there is a paycheck.

 

This story is very much a Seattle story from the other side, the side that many living on the streets can understand. After devoting more than a decade of their life to Bartell Drugs, their store, of course, closed. And though the employee says the parent company provided the opportunity to continue working, it has not materialized in a meaningful way. It seems the only available work is "packing up merchandise and taking down shelves," according to this employee, who requested anonymity because she still wants work from Bartells and fears the revelation of their identity could make an already bad situation worse. 

A week ago, this employee says they logged into the company's "workhour system to claim dozens of hours" of Paid Time Off allegedly owed to them, "but [the system was] frozen." A few days later, they found their account no longer existed. It was deleted. That situation, which can only cause a great amount of anxiety, is still in development. (I wrote to Bartell Drugs spokesperson for comment and will update this post if I hear back.) On top of all this, the employee has health issues that would be catastrophically expensive if they lost their health insurance—by the way, the majority of Americans who have debts to hospitals are insured.

It's hard to believe this story is singular, an anomaly. If the brutal history of capitalism is anything to go by, then we can easily (indeed, safely) conclude that this employee's experience is pretty standard. And keep in mind that the average Bartell Drugs salary is, in our city, $48,028. And also keep in mind that the "estimated monthly costs" for a single person in Seattle is $1,708. That cost does not include rent. These estimates are rough, for sure, but no one, including Danny Westneat, doubts that Seattle is a very expensive city.   

What's all of this telling us? That years of hard work are, when accumulated, by no means a sure ticket. We live in a world that says, over and over: play by the rules and you will succeed; your life has nothing to do with the state or class structure of your society; those on our streets have only themselves to blame. It comes down to only you, and the intensity of your determination. We even have a new billionaire telling the hoi polloi that it's all about "energy and passion." This nonsense is pumped through the system every day.   

In reality, devotion to a company (arriving to work on time, presenting a smile to even the rudest customers, never disappointing the boss' directives and expectations) often amounts to little or nothing at all. In this system, described as "C.R.E.A.M" by the Wu-Tang Clan, your life can be turned upside-down at the drop of a dime.

And what did this Bartell employee do to go from a barely stable situation in a very expensive city to one where the future is unknown? What did they have to do with Martin Grass? With all of those debts? With Kathi Lentzsch, who, after leaving Bartell, became, according to her LinkedIn account, the board director for Skagit Valley Malt. What happened to the company last year? It went belly-up. What can we guess? Lentzsch will be fine. She will continue doing what she has done for a good part of her life.

Puget Sound Business Journal in 2019, when Lentzsch's term as Bartells’ CEO had entered twilight:

PBSJ: At this point in your career, what are your professional aspirations? 

Lentzsch: I want to continue in roles as a CEO and/or board member with passion brands and next-generation businesses where innovation is encouraged and a positive impact on society is valued.

The future of the employee whose life has been tossed into turmoil by the deal with Rite Aid is not so rosy.