Harbor Freight and the Old Rite Aid on Lodi Avenue

Lodi
Written by Don Bradford
Harbor Freight and the Old Rite Aid on Lodi Avenue

Harbor Freight and the Old Rite Aid on Lodi Avenue

LodiEye — November 2026

At a Glance

Harbor Freight Tools is reportedly moving into at least part of the former Rite Aid at 520 W. Lodi Avenue, the 28,456-square-foot box next to Save Mart in the Avenue Plaza center. The company has applied to the city for a sign permit and tenant improvements, and construction activity is visible at the site. The store would be Lodi's first Harbor Freight and would end roughly 15 months of vacancy at the largest empty storefront on the Lodi Avenue corridor. The company itself has not announced the store, and two questions remain open in the public record: whether the building was sold or leased, and whether Harbor Freight is taking all of it or about half.

28,456
square feet in the former Rite Aid
15
months vacant since Aug. 1, 2025
1,651
Harbor Freight stores nationwide (May 2026)
151
stores in California, most of any state
49,037
vehicles a day at Lodi Ave. and Hutchins St.

What Is Known

Steve Mann's About Town newsletter reported on November 2, 2026 that Harbor Freight is taking over at least part of the old Rite Aid building, that the company has applied for a sign permit and tenant improvements according to the city, and that there is construction activity at the site.

Harbor Freight's corporate newsroom has not mentioned Lodi. It lists recent Northern California activity, including a Carmichael store that opened September 15, 2026 and a Napa store at 1203 W. Imola Avenue expected in early fall 2026, but no Lodi announcement. No Lodi job postings have appeared either. The company usually announces a store once a lease is signed and an opening season is set, and store-manager hiring is typically the first public signal that an opening is a few months out.

The Rite Aid pharmacy at this address, store #6000, ended operations on July 7, 2025, and the building went vacant August 1, 2025. Rite Aid had operated at the location for more than 35 years. The parent company liquidated later in 2025.

The Building and the Property

The building is 28,456 square feet on 1.97 acres, built in 1989 and renovated in 2015. Rite Aid's remodel cost more than $700,000 and included a new facade, roof and HVAC, which leaves the box in better condition than most vacated drugstores and makes it more attractive to a new tenant.

Item Detail
Address 520 W. Lodi Ave, Lodi, CA 95240
Parcel APN 033-190-34
Center Avenue Plaza, shadow-anchored by Save Mart
Size 28,456 SF building on 1.97 acres; 200 parking stalls
Built / renovated 1989 / 2015
Zoning MCO (mixed use)
Assessed value $4,437,970 (land $1,623,648; improvements $2,814,322)
Traffic 30,328 vehicles/day on W. Lodi Ave; 18,709 on S. Hutchins St
Trade area 25,210 residents within 1 mile; 77,078 within 3 miles
Average household income $64,412 (1 mile), $82,527 (3 miles), $84,651 (5 miles)

Ownership and Marketing

Around 2020, Lockehouse Investment Sales sold the property as a single-tenant net-lease Rite Aid to a private investor, with four-plus years remaining on the lease. That lease ran out in 2025, which matches Rite Aid's exit. The current owner of record is not named in any public listing reviewed for this report.

After Rite Aid left, broker Sandeep Gupta of Agentsdeal Inc. offered the building two ways: for sale at $4.6 million, or $162 per square foot, to an owner-user or investor, and for lease at $14 per square foot triple-net. The sale price was later reduced to $4.3 million, or $151 per square foot. The listing went on the market July 28, 2025. The lease offering described a three-to-five-year term with CPI increases, with the tenant carrying maintenance, common-area charges, tax, insurance and utilities. Other tenants in the center listed in the marketing materials include Subway, Taco Bell, Domino's, Sky Wok, Tony's Pizzeria, Hummus Mediterranean, The Avenue Grill, FedEx, a credit union, T-Mobile and MetroPCS.

Two Open Questions

Sale or lease? No sale has appeared in public listings. Harbor Freight's standard practice is to lease rather than buy, so a lease is the likely answer, but the building was marketed both ways. The San Joaquin County Assessor's record for APN 033-190-34 would show the current owner and whether a transfer recorded in 2026.

Whole building or part? Harbor Freight's typical store is about 15,000 square feet; the Elk Grove store is exactly that. That is roughly half this building, which is why "at least part" is the right hedge. The city's eTRAKiT permit portal is where the tenant-improvement permit would show the area being built out and the sign permit would show the frontage. If Harbor Freight takes only part, the remainder becomes a second vacancy on the same corner.

Harbor Freight: Who They Are and How They Grow

Harbor Freight Tools is a privately held discount tool retailer based in Calabasas, founded in 1977 by Eric Smidt and his father Allan as a mail-order business in North Hollywood. It opened its first store in 1982. The chain sells mostly house-brand hand tools, power tools, automotive and shop equipment, generators, compressors, welding supplies and storage, sourced directly from manufacturers. Annual revenue is reported above $9 billion.

As of May 2026 the company had 1,651 stores in 48 states, 151 of them in California, the most of any state. Texas is second with 136 and Florida third with 93. The chain has been opening about 100 stores a year for the past four or five years, roughly two a week, and says it draws more than 75 million customers.

Harbor Freight Store Count, 2018–2026

Source: geo.sig.ai brand profile (2018), ScrapeHero location reports (2024, May 2026) | 2018 figure is approximate; counts are national totals

Its site strategy fits Lodi closely. The company targets mid-size cities where big-box home centers already exist but no value-priced tool store does, and it follows blue-collar demographics rather than raw population. Former Rite Aids are a recurring choice: Temecula's first Harbor Freight opened in one in November 2024, and La Grande, Oregon's did the same in 2024. The drugstore box, the highway-commercial corner and the existing parking all match the format.

New-store announcements typically cite 15 to 30 jobs depending on store size. Recent California store-manager postings run roughly $70,000 to $116,000 a year, and stocking associates have started around $28 an hour in recent listings.

Who It Competes With in Lodi

Harbor Freight's niche is cheap house-brand tools, shop equipment and automotive gear. It does not sell lumber, plumbing, paint or building materials, so its overlap with each existing Lodi retailer is partial.

Store Address Where the overlap is
The Home Depot 2960 Reynolds Ranch Pkwy Power tools, generators, storage, outdoor power equipment, at higher price points
Lowe's 1389 S. Lower Sacramento Rd Same categories as Home Depot
Tractor Supply 360 S. Cherokee Ln Generators, welders, compressors, trailers, farm and shop equipment; the most direct hit on rural customers
Young's Ace Hardware 211 N. Ham Ln Hand tools; Ace's draw is convenience and service rather than price
Auto parts stores (O'Reilly, AutoZone, NAPA) Various Jacks, jack stands, automotive hand tools, shop supplies
A1 Saw and Mower 54 N. Cluff Ave Outdoor power equipment and service

Until now the nearest Harbor Freight stores have been in Stockton, Elk Grove and Manteca. A Lodi store fills the gap along Highway 99 and pulls in shoppers from Galt, Lockeford, Woodbridge, Acampo and the surrounding farm area who currently make that drive.

Driving Distance from 520 W. Lodi Ave to the Nearest Existing Harbor Freight Stores

Source: Harbor Freight store locator, Yelp distance listings | Distances are approximate road miles

What It Means for Lodi

A Harbor Freight ends roughly 15 months of vacancy at the largest recent empty box on the Lodi Avenue corridor, and it brings a different kind of tenant than the center has had.

Jobs. Comparable new stores have created 15 to 30 positions. Store hours are typically 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Sales tax. Harbor Freight is a destination retailer. Much of its Lodi volume would be spending that currently goes to Stockton, Elk Grove or Manteca, so it is new taxable sales for the city rather than spending shifted from other Lodi stores.

Trade area. Lodi's mix of agriculture, trucking, winery operations and building trades is the customer base the company says it follows when it picks sites.

The corridor. Lodi Avenue between Ham Lane and Lower Sacramento Road is one of the older commercial strips in town. Avenue Plaza's current tenants are neighborhood-convenience businesses: fast food, a grocer, shipping, phones. Harbor Freight brings shoppers who come specifically for it and come often, which is a different traffic pattern for the center.

The Rest of the Box

If the store takes only about half the 28,456 square feet, the balance becomes a second vacancy on the same corner. What fills that space will shape the center as much as Harbor Freight does, and the city's permit record is the first place that answer will show up.

LodiEye is the original civic-reporting and analysis arm of Lodi411.com, a citizen-run civic data and transparency platform serving Lodi, California and San Joaquin County. LodiEye gathers information of public interest, applies editorial judgment to public records, meetings, and data, and publishes original explanatory reporting for its readers — the work of a newsroom, and a representative of the news media as that term is defined under federal law. Our reporting emphasizes primary sources, public data, and full source transparency so readers can check every claim. LodiEye complements, and does not replace, the other outlets covering this region; for additional reporting on Lodi, San Joaquin County, and the broader region, we also encourage readers to consult the Lodi News-Sentinel, Stocktonia, The Sacramento Bee, CalMatters, and other established news organizations. Our full editorial standards and news-media-status statement is published at lodi411.com/editorial-standards.

This LodiEye report was produced using artificial intelligence tools under the direction and review of the founder. Lodi411 uses multiple AI platforms in its research and publication workflow, including Anthropic's Claude (primarily Opus and Sonnet models) and Perplexity AI across a variety of large language models offered by each. These tools were used in the following capacities:

Source Discovery: Claude and Perplexity AI were used to locate the commercial listing and offering memorandum for 520 W. Lodi Avenue, the prior sale record, Rite Aid's store-closure records, Harbor Freight's corporate newsroom and store directory, store-count datasets, and local retailer listings for Lodi.

Credibility Validation: AI cross-referenced the building's square footage, parcel number, asking prices and traffic counts across the offering memorandum, LoopNet and MLS listings, and the earlier Lockehouse sale notice. Store counts were checked against two independent location datasets and the company's own statements. Claims about the Lodi store itself were limited to what the originating newsletter reported; neither the company nor the property owner has confirmed terms.

Analysis and Synthesis: Claude assisted in mapping Harbor Freight's product categories against existing Lodi retailers, comparing the building's size to the company's typical store footprint, and identifying which public records would resolve the open questions on ownership and square footage.

Presentation: Claude assisted in drafting, structuring, and formatting the report, including the property and competitor tables and the Kendo UI charts of store growth and distance to existing stores.

Final Review: Multiple AI models reviewed the completed draft for factual consistency, source attribution accuracy, logical coherence, and balanced presentation. Throughout the process, the editor sets the report's goals, scope, and tone; creates and shapes draft content; reviews and edits the report; integrates independent fact checks; and reviews the AI cross-checks and validations. Multi-tool cross-checking across independent models and sources is the primary error-reduction mechanism.

Lodi411/LodiEye believes that transparency about how our research is produced — including our use of AI under human direction — strengthens trust with readers and the broader information ecosystem. Readers who spot an error are encouraged to write editor@lodi411.com so we can correct it.

Sources

Don Bradford
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