A vacant Rite Aid on Bend's southeast side is about to get new life as Tractor Supply Co. works toward opening its first store in the city this fall. The Tennessee-based retailer is taking over the former drugstore space at 700 SE 3rd Street, near Grocery Outlet, with a target soft opening date of October 17 and a grand opening slated for October 24.
The timeline comes from David Lockard, who confirmed the October target to WhatNow, though the outlet notes those dates could shift slightly as construction wraps up. The Bulletin reported the same October 17 soft-opening and October 24 grand-opening targets earlier this month, giving Bend residents a firmer window to plan for the store's debut.
The building has a well-documented recent history. KGW reported in May 2025 that the SE 3rd Street property was among 17 Oregon drugstores named on an official bankruptcy court closure list tied to Rite Aid's Chapter 11 proceedings. That closure was part of a much larger wave: KLCC reported that same year that 40 Rite Aid locations across Oregon were selected for closure, with rival CVS purchasing 13 of those stores along with prescription files from 16 others. Rite Aid went on to fully liquidate its remaining stores by October 2025.
A Statewide Pattern of Backfilled Drugstores
Bend's situation fits a trend playing out across Oregon, where former Rite Aid storefronts are frequently being reclaimed by discount and off-price retailers. Hoodline previously covered Grocery Outlet's takeover of a Silverton Rite Aid, part of the same statewide re-occupancy wave now reaching Bend. High demand for well-located commercial property in fast-growing Central Oregon has kept turnover of these spaces quick rather than leaving them empty for long.
This will mark Tractor Supply's second Central Oregon location, following a Redmond store that opened earlier in 2026. The chain carries livestock and pet feed, animal health products, lawn and garden supplies, hardware, workwear, outdoor equipment, and country-style home décor, reflecting a retail model built around rural and suburban lifestyle needs rather than heavy farm machinery alone.
Corporate Growth Fuels the Expansion
Tractor Supply operates more than 2,000 stores nationwide, according to The Bulletin, with the company reporting it ran 2,463 namesake stores across 49 states as of late June after posting $15.52 billion in total net sales for fiscal year 2025. In its 2025 annual SEC filing, the company said it plans to open roughly 100 new stores nationwide in fiscal year 2026, a selling-square-footage increase of about 4%. Livestock, equine, and agricultural merchandise made up the largest slice of that revenue in fiscal 2025 at roughly 27%, per Morningstar, with companion animal supplies and seasonal items each contributing about 24%.
Per The Bulletin, Tractor Supply expects to grow its Oregon footprint from roughly six stores to about 16 by the end of 2026, with final expansion decisions controlled by company leadership. The chain's existing Oregon locations include Creswell, Grants Pass, Junction City, Klamath Falls, Lebanon, McMinnville, Molalla, and Monmouth, according to the company's store directory, though its overall footprint remains most concentrated in the eastern and midwestern United States.
Why Bend Is a Target
The push into Bend lines up with the city's growth. Population estimates from Portland State University, published by The Bulletin, showed Bend reached 107,079 residents in July 2025, with Deschutes County growing to 213,886 residents. That expanding, rural-suburban customer base makes Central Oregon an attractive market for Tractor Supply's lifestyle retail approach, which leans on pet care, livestock feed, and home goods.
A standard Tractor Supply store features about 15,500 square feet of interior selling space alongside a similar footprint of outdoor display space, according to the company's corporate profile. What remains to be seen locally is whether the October target holds, how many jobs the new Bend store will create, and how the opening affects existing farm supply and pet stores along the SE 3rd Street commercial corridor.
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