We shopped at CVS and Rite Aid to see which was a better drugstore, and the winner was clear (CVS, RAD)

• CVS and Rite Aid are drugstore chains that sell items as varied as groceries and greeting cards.
• Both CVS and Rite Aid have pharmacies that offer services like flu shots.
• They also each have a rewards program that can earn shoppers major discounts.
• When we visited neighboring locations of CVS and Rite Aid in Westchester, New York, we found that the stores had very different atmospheres, and each offered a unique shopping experience.

CVS and Rite Aid are pretty much everywhere you go. Some towns — like Westchester, New York — have both stores just minutes down the road from each other.

CVS and Rite Aid carry items as varied as groceries, cosmetics, household supplies, and greeting cards. Each store has a pharmacy, and both have rewards cards that offer serious savings.

CVS operates 8,000 to 10,000 stores in the United States, while Rite Aid has about 2,500.

When we visited locations of the two stores in Westchester, atmosphere was one of the most notable differences between them. The CVS we visited was dark and messy. There were dark gray carpeted floors, empty soda cans, old shopping lists, and no shortage of empty shelves. Security TVs loomed over every aisle, and it was eerily quiet.

Rite Aid wasn't quite as unwelcoming — it was mostly clean, but there were bins and shopping carts everywhere and a lot of empty shelves. It was also very quiet, but it was a more pleasant place to be in.

Even though Rite Aid had a nicer environment to shop in, CVS, which is merging with Aetna, saw same-store sales increase by 1.6% in the most recent quarter, while Rite Aid saw same-store sales decrease by 0.7% in its most recent quarter.

Here's what it was like to shop at each store: