Rite Aid
Encyclopedia
Rite Aid is a drugstore chain in the United States
and a Fortune 500
company headquartered in East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania
, near Camp Hill
. Rite Aid is the largest drugstore chain on the East Coast and the third largest drugstore chain in the U.S.
Rite Aid began in 1962 as a single store opened in Scranton, Pennsylvania
called Thrif D Discount Center. After several years of growth, Rite Aid adopted its current name and debuted as a public company
in 1968. Today, Rite Aid is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker RAD. Rite Aid reported total sales of USD $24.3 billion in fiscal year 2008. In 2008, its market capitalization
dropped to under $500 million. , the market capitalization of Rite Aid was about $1.3 billion.
Its major competitors are CVS
and Walgreens
.
. It moved to the New York Stock Exchange
in 1970. In 2011, Rite Aid was ranked #100 on Fortune 500
Largest U.S. Corporations.
by 1981; shortly thereafter, 1983 marked a sales milestone of $1 billion. A 420-store acquisition along the east coast expanded Rite Aid's holdings beyond 2,000 locations. Among the companies acquired was Baltimore, Maryland
's Read's Drug Store. On April 10, 1989, Peoples Drug
's 114 unit Lane Drug
of Ohio was purchased by Rite Aid.
Rite Aid acquired twenty-four Hooks Drug stores from Revco in 1994, selling nine of those stores to Perry Drug Stores
, a Michigan-based pharmacy chain. One year later, the 224-store Perry chain itself was acquired by Rite Aid. The 1,000-store West Coast
chain Thrifty PayLess
was later acquired in 1996. The acquisition of Thrifty PayLess
included the Northwest
-based Bi-Mart
membership discount stores, which was sold off in 1998. Acquisitions of Harco, Inc. and K & B Inc. brought Rite Aid into the Gulf Coast area.
In the 1990s, Rite-Aid partnered with Carl Paladino
's Ellicott Development Company to expand the company's presence in upstate New York
.
in January 1999, bringing GNC mini-stores within the Rite Aid pharmacies. A partnership with drugstore.com in June 1999 allowed customers of Rite Aid to place medical prescription
orders online for same-day, in-store pickup.
His father Rite Aid founder Alexander Grass died of cancer August 27, 2009.
At the time, Rite Aid had just acquired Thrifty PayLess and was integrating those into the company. As a result, Leonard Green, who ran the investment firm that had sold those stores to Rite Aid, took control of the company and placed Mary Sammons from Fred Meyer
in as CEO. Sammons instituted a number of reforms of Rite Aid's business and has returned the company to credibility.
July 2001, Rite Aid agreed to improve their pharmacy complaint process by implementing a new program to respond to consumer complaints.
On July 25, 2004, Rite Aid agreed to pay $7 million to settle allegations that the company had submitted false prescription claims to United States government health insurance programs.
In August, 2007. Rite Aid acquired approximately 1,850 Brooks/Eckerd Stores throughout the United States in hopes to improve their accessibility to a wider range of consumers. On December 21, 2007, The New York Times
reported that Rite Aid had record breaking losses that year, despite the acquisition of the Brooks and Eckerd chains.
The following fiscal quarter saw an increase in revenue but a sharp fall in net income as Rite Aid began the integration process. Rite Aid shares fell over 75% between September 2007 and September 2008, closing at a low of $0.98 on September 11, 2008. Rite Aid shares subsequently dropped to $0.20 on March 6, 2009, the all-time low .
Scott Cole & Associates, APC filed a class action lawsuit against Rite Aid Corporation on behalf of its salaried California Store Managers. It was alleged that Rite Aid failed to pay overtime to these workers and denied them their meal and rest periods. In 2009, the action settled for $6.9 million. Scott Cole & Associates - Rite Aid Class Action
In June, 2010 John Standley was promoted from Chief Operating Officer to Chief Executive Officer, with former CEO Mary Sammons retaining her position as Chairman; Ken Martindale, previously co-President of Pathmark
, was named Chief Operating Officer.
loyalty program
; offering discounts on prescription drug
s purchased with cash, and all other non-prescription items. Benefits are 10% discounts on all products on Tuesdays (20% on the first Tuesday of the month), as well as unadvertised sales on merchandise. This program is very similar to the former Revco
program which was called "Senior Shoppers"; Rite Aid attempted to purchase Revco in 1996. This might be attributed to the fact that Revco's former Vice President of Marketing, James Mastrian, once held the same position at Rite Aid. The Living More program is being discontinued as of October 31, 2010.
The wellness+ card is a new shopping rewards card that started nationwide on April 18, 2010. Membership is free, and benefits include free health and wellness benefits as well as shopping discounts and special prices.
On August 23, 2006, the Wall Street Journal announced that Rite Aid would be buying the Eckerd Pharmacy and Brooks Pharmacy
chains (Brooks Eckerd
Pharmacy) from the Quebec-based Jean Coutu Group
for US$3.4 billion, and merging the two chains into one dominant pharmacy system. The company's shareholders overwhelmingly approved the merger on January 18, 2007.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_bi_ge/rite_aid_acquisition After some store closures and the conversion of the two chains to Rite Aid is complete, the deal will make Rite Aid the dominating drug store retailer in the Eastern U.S., and secures its place as the third largest drug retailer nationwide (behind the faster growing Walgreens and CVS chains).
Similar to what CVS has gone through in the Chicago metropolitan area after its purchase of Albertson's
drug store chains, the deal had left Rite Aid with some locations close to each other. (Only 23 store locations nationally were sold off to Walgreens, The Medicine Shoppe, or independent owners in order to meet federal regulations.) In many situations, especially Pennsylvania where both chains were dominant and had roots in those states (Rite Aid originated in Scranton, while Eckerd has roots in Western Pennsylvania
via Erie
for itself and Pittsburgh for converted Thrift Drug
locations), there were now two Rite Aids as close as right next door to each other. However, in March 2008 some of these overlapping stores were closed, with the locations saying that they "moved" to a new address, when in fact they "moved" to the other Rite Aid that was nearby. Most of these stores that closed were pre-existing Rite Aids from before the Eckerd deal, since Eckerd had built newer, more modern locations with drive-thru pharmacies
and larger space under ownership of both J. C. Penney
and Jean Coutu Group
, and the "moved to" sites were converted Eckerds. Employees at the closed stores were transferred to the nearby locations, so no layoffs were necessary.
Rite Aid had sold some locations to J. C. Penney
's Thrift Drug chain in the mid-1990s shortly before J.C. Penney's acquisition of Eckerd, and had also sold all of their Massachusetts stores to Brooks in 1995, bringing some existing Eckerd and Brooks stores that were once Rite Aids full circle.
Because Eckerd was previously owned by J.C. Penney, Eckerd stores accepted J.C. Penney charge cards. Since the merger, all Rite Aids accept J.C. Penney charge cards.
Today, New York
with 640 stores is home to the largest number of Rite Aids, followed by California
and Pennsylvania
with more than 550 stores each.
, Nevada
area and has signed an agreement to sell patient prescription files of the 27 stores in the Las Vegas metro market to Walgreens. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Rite Aid said it will continue to operate its remaining store in Nevada in Gardnerville, which is close to the border of California
where Rite Aid has more than 600 stores. Rite Aid said Las Vegas was a non-core market for the company that has not been contributing to overall results. The company hasn't opened a new store in the Las Vegas area since 1999.
On February 5, 2009, Rite Aid Corporation announced that it will terminate its operations of 12 Rite Aid stores in the San Francisco, California and Eastern Idaho areas through a sale to Walgreens
. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/07/BUKR15P55I.DTL&type=business
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and a Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
company headquartered in East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania
East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania
East Pennsboro Township is a township in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,254 at the 2000 census. In 1990 the township had a population of 16,588. East Pennsboro is the second largest municipality in Cumberland County. The township is located along the...
, near Camp Hill
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
Camp Hill is a borough in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 2 miles southwest of Harrisburg. It is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,636 at the 2000 census...
. Rite Aid is the largest drugstore chain on the East Coast and the third largest drugstore chain in the U.S.
Rite Aid began in 1962 as a single store opened in Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
called Thrif D Discount Center. After several years of growth, Rite Aid adopted its current name and debuted as a public company
Public company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
in 1968. Today, Rite Aid is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker RAD. Rite Aid reported total sales of USD $24.3 billion in fiscal year 2008. In 2008, its market capitalization
Market capitalization
Market capitalization is a measurement of the value of the ownership interest that shareholders hold in a business enterprise. It is equal to the share price times the number of shares outstanding of a publicly traded company...
dropped to under $500 million. , the market capitalization of Rite Aid was about $1.3 billion.
Its major competitors are CVS
CVS Caremark
CVS Caremark Corporation is an integrated pharmacy services provider, combining a United States pharmaceutical services company with a U.S. pharmacy chain...
and Walgreens
Walgreens
Walgreen Co. , doing business as Walgreens , is the largest drugstore chain in the United States of America. As of August 31st, the company operates 8,210 locations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1901, and has since expanded...
.
History
Alexander Grass founded the Rite Aid chain in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as Thrif D Discount Center. The first store opened in September 1962. Through acquisitions and new stores, Rite Aid quickly expanded into 5 northeast states by 1965. The chain was officially named Rite Aid Corporation in 1968 and made its debut on the American Stock ExchangeAmerican Stock Exchange
NYSE Amex Equities, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange is an American stock exchange situated in New York. AMEX was a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known as the New York Curb Exchange. On January 17, 2008, NYSE Euronext announced it would acquire the...
. It moved to the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
in 1970. In 2011, Rite Aid was ranked #100 on Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
Largest U.S. Corporations.
Growth and acquisitions
Just ten years after its first store opened, Rite Aid operated 267 locations in 10 states. It was named the third largest drugstore in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by 1981; shortly thereafter, 1983 marked a sales milestone of $1 billion. A 420-store acquisition along the east coast expanded Rite Aid's holdings beyond 2,000 locations. Among the companies acquired was Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
's Read's Drug Store. On April 10, 1989, Peoples Drug
Peoples Drug
Peoples Drug was a chain of drug stores based in Alexandria, VA, a suburb of Washington, D.C.. Founded in 1904, Peoples was subsequently purchased by Lane Drug in 1975, Imasco in 1984, and finally by CVS in 1990, which continued to run the stores under the Peoples banner until 1994, at which time...
's 114 unit Lane Drug
Lane Drug
The Lane Drug Company of Ohio , was a discount drugstore chain in the United States based in Toledo, Ohio...
of Ohio was purchased by Rite Aid.
Rite Aid acquired twenty-four Hooks Drug stores from Revco in 1994, selling nine of those stores to Perry Drug Stores
Perry Drug Stores
Perry Drug Stores was an American retail pharmacy chain founded in 1957 in the city of Pontiac, Michigan, United States. At its peak in the 1980s, Perry operated more than 200 drug stores, primarily in the state of Michigan, as well as 200 Auto Works auto parts stores and fourteen A. L...
, a Michigan-based pharmacy chain. One year later, the 224-store Perry chain itself was acquired by Rite Aid. The 1,000-store West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
chain Thrifty PayLess
Thrifty PayLess
Thrifty PayLess Holdings, Inc. was a pharmacy holding company that owned the Thrifty Drugs and PayLess Drug Stores chains in the western United States....
was later acquired in 1996. The acquisition of Thrifty PayLess
Thrifty PayLess
Thrifty PayLess Holdings, Inc. was a pharmacy holding company that owned the Thrifty Drugs and PayLess Drug Stores chains in the western United States....
included the Northwest
Northwestern United States
The Northwestern United States comprise the northwestern states up to the western Great Plains regions of the United States, and consistently include the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, to which part of southeast Alaska is also sometimes included...
-based Bi-Mart
Bi-Mart
- External links :**, a December 2004 article from The Oregonian...
membership discount stores, which was sold off in 1998. Acquisitions of Harco, Inc. and K & B Inc. brought Rite Aid into the Gulf Coast area.
In the 1990s, Rite-Aid partnered with Carl Paladino
Carl Paladino
Carl Pasquale Paladino is an American businessman and political activist from Buffalo, New York. Paladino is the founder and chairman of Ellicott Development Company, a real estate development company he founded in 1973. He was the 2010 Republican nominee for the New York gubernatorial election,...
's Ellicott Development Company to expand the company's presence in upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
.
Partnership with GNC
General Nutrition Companies (GNC) and Rite Aid formed a partnershipPartnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
in January 1999, bringing GNC mini-stores within the Rite Aid pharmacies. A partnership with drugstore.com in June 1999 allowed customers of Rite Aid to place medical prescription
Medical prescription
A prescription is a health-care program implemented by a physician or other medical practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan of care for an individual patient. Prescriptions may include orders to be performed by a patient, caretaker, nurse, pharmacist or other therapist....
orders online for same-day, in-store pickup.
Company troubles
Rite Aid also had a major accounting scandal that led to the departure (and subsequent jail time) of several top ranking executives, including the CEO, Martin Grass, son of company founder Alexander Grass. Former Rite Aid vice chairman Franklin C. Brown is serving a 10-year sentence in a medium-security facility at Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Raleigh, North Carolina. After serving six years in prison Grass was released on Jan. 18 2010.His father Rite Aid founder Alexander Grass died of cancer August 27, 2009.
At the time, Rite Aid had just acquired Thrifty PayLess and was integrating those into the company. As a result, Leonard Green, who ran the investment firm that had sold those stores to Rite Aid, took control of the company and placed Mary Sammons from Fred Meyer
Fred Meyer
Fred Meyer, Inc., is a chain of hypermarkets founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, by Fred G. Meyer. The company was one of the pioneers of one-stop shopping, eventually combining a complete grocery supermarket with a drugstore, clothing store, shoe store, fine jewelers, home decor store, home...
in as CEO. Sammons instituted a number of reforms of Rite Aid's business and has returned the company to credibility.
July 2001, Rite Aid agreed to improve their pharmacy complaint process by implementing a new program to respond to consumer complaints.
On July 25, 2004, Rite Aid agreed to pay $7 million to settle allegations that the company had submitted false prescription claims to United States government health insurance programs.
In August, 2007. Rite Aid acquired approximately 1,850 Brooks/Eckerd Stores throughout the United States in hopes to improve their accessibility to a wider range of consumers. On December 21, 2007, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that Rite Aid had record breaking losses that year, despite the acquisition of the Brooks and Eckerd chains.
The following fiscal quarter saw an increase in revenue but a sharp fall in net income as Rite Aid began the integration process. Rite Aid shares fell over 75% between September 2007 and September 2008, closing at a low of $0.98 on September 11, 2008. Rite Aid shares subsequently dropped to $0.20 on March 6, 2009, the all-time low .
Scott Cole & Associates, APC filed a class action lawsuit against Rite Aid Corporation on behalf of its salaried California Store Managers. It was alleged that Rite Aid failed to pay overtime to these workers and denied them their meal and rest periods. In 2009, the action settled for $6.9 million. Scott Cole & Associates - Rite Aid Class Action
In June, 2010 John Standley was promoted from Chief Operating Officer to Chief Executive Officer, with former CEO Mary Sammons retaining her position as Chairman; Ken Martindale, previously co-President of Pathmark
Pathmark
Pathmark is a supermarket chain headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey. It was founded in 1968 when its then parent, Supermarkets General Corporation, pulled out of the ShopRite retailers' cooperative...
, was named Chief Operating Officer.
Living More and Wellness
Beginning in March 2005, Rite Aid introduced Living More, a seniors'Senior citizen
Senior citizen is a common polite designation for an elderly person in both UK and US English, and it implies or means that the person is retired. This in turn implies or in fact means that the person is over the retirement age, which varies according to country. Synonyms include pensioner in UK...
loyalty program
Loyalty program
Loyalty programs are structured marketing efforts that reward, and therefore encourage, loyal buying behavior — behavior which is potentially beneficial to the firm....
; offering discounts on prescription drug
Prescription drug
A prescription medication is a licensed medicine that is regulated by legislation to require a medical prescription before it can be obtained. The term is used to distinguish it from over-the-counter drugs which can be obtained without a prescription...
s purchased with cash, and all other non-prescription items. Benefits are 10% discounts on all products on Tuesdays (20% on the first Tuesday of the month), as well as unadvertised sales on merchandise. This program is very similar to the former Revco
Revco
Revco Discount Drug Stores , once based in Twinsburg, Ohio, was a major drug store chain operating through the Ohio Valley, the Mid-Atlantic states, and the Southeastern United States. The chain's stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker RXR...
program which was called "Senior Shoppers"; Rite Aid attempted to purchase Revco in 1996. This might be attributed to the fact that Revco's former Vice President of Marketing, James Mastrian, once held the same position at Rite Aid. The Living More program is being discontinued as of October 31, 2010.
The wellness+ card is a new shopping rewards card that started nationwide on April 18, 2010. Membership is free, and benefits include free health and wellness benefits as well as shopping discounts and special prices.
Merger with Eckerd and Brooks
Brooks Pharmacy
Brooks Pharmacy was a chain of more than 330 pharmacies located throughout New England and New York and has been a well-recognized name in the New England pharmacy industry for several decades. The corporate headquarters were located in Warwick, Rhode Island...
chains (Brooks Eckerd
Brooks Eckerd
Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy was a chain of approximately 2,000 pharmacies operating in 18 states on the Eastern half of the United States in Midwest, Southeast and East Coast regions. It was the 4th largest drugstore chain in the country. In June 2007 Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy became Rite...
Pharmacy) from the Quebec-based Jean Coutu Group
Jean Coutu Group
The Jean Coutu Group Inc. is a Canadian drugstore chain headquartered in Longueuil, Quebec. It has more than 360 franchised locations in New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec under the PJC Jean Coutu, PJC Clinique and PJC Santé Beauté banners...
for US$3.4 billion, and merging the two chains into one dominant pharmacy system. The company's shareholders overwhelmingly approved the merger on January 18, 2007.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_bi_ge/rite_aid_acquisition After some store closures and the conversion of the two chains to Rite Aid is complete, the deal will make Rite Aid the dominating drug store retailer in the Eastern U.S., and secures its place as the third largest drug retailer nationwide (behind the faster growing Walgreens and CVS chains).
Similar to what CVS has gone through in the Chicago metropolitan area after its purchase of Albertson's
Albertsons LLC
Albertsons LLC is a North American grocery company based in Boise, Idaho, with over 240 supermarkets located in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida under the Albertson's and Super Saver Foods banners...
drug store chains, the deal had left Rite Aid with some locations close to each other. (Only 23 store locations nationally were sold off to Walgreens, The Medicine Shoppe, or independent owners in order to meet federal regulations.) In many situations, especially Pennsylvania where both chains were dominant and had roots in those states (Rite Aid originated in Scranton, while Eckerd has roots in Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie, Altoona, and Johnstown are its...
via Erie
Erie
Erie is a city in Pennsylvania, United States.Erie may also refer to:*Erie , a tribe of Native Americans-Places:*Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes of North America*Erie Canal, a canal running from the Hudson River to Lake Erie...
for itself and Pittsburgh for converted Thrift Drug
Thrift Drug
Thrift Drug was a pharmacy chain based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that was founded in 1937 and purchased by J.C. Penney in 1968, and was expanded greatly thereafter. The chain served as the flagship chain of J.C. Penney's pharmacy group. The chain didn't hide its affiliation with J.C. Penney, as...
locations), there were now two Rite Aids as close as right next door to each other. However, in March 2008 some of these overlapping stores were closed, with the locations saying that they "moved" to a new address, when in fact they "moved" to the other Rite Aid that was nearby. Most of these stores that closed were pre-existing Rite Aids from before the Eckerd deal, since Eckerd had built newer, more modern locations with drive-thru pharmacies
Drive-through
A drive-through, or drive-thru, is a type of service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products without leaving their cars. The format was first pioneered in the United States in the 1930s but has since spread to other countries. The first recorded use of a bank using a drive...
and larger space under ownership of both J. C. Penney
J. C. Penney
-External links:*...
and Jean Coutu Group
Jean Coutu Group
The Jean Coutu Group Inc. is a Canadian drugstore chain headquartered in Longueuil, Quebec. It has more than 360 franchised locations in New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec under the PJC Jean Coutu, PJC Clinique and PJC Santé Beauté banners...
, and the "moved to" sites were converted Eckerds. Employees at the closed stores were transferred to the nearby locations, so no layoffs were necessary.
Rite Aid had sold some locations to J. C. Penney
J. C. Penney
-External links:*...
's Thrift Drug chain in the mid-1990s shortly before J.C. Penney's acquisition of Eckerd, and had also sold all of their Massachusetts stores to Brooks in 1995, bringing some existing Eckerd and Brooks stores that were once Rite Aids full circle.
Because Eckerd was previously owned by J.C. Penney, Eckerd stores accepted J.C. Penney charge cards. Since the merger, all Rite Aids accept J.C. Penney charge cards.
Today, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with 640 stores is home to the largest number of Rite Aids, followed by California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
with more than 550 stores each.
Market exits
On January 4, 2008, Rite Aid Corporation announced that it will terminate its operation of the 28 Rite Aid stores in the Las VegasLas Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
area and has signed an agreement to sell patient prescription files of the 27 stores in the Las Vegas metro market to Walgreens. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Rite Aid said it will continue to operate its remaining store in Nevada in Gardnerville, which is close to the border of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
where Rite Aid has more than 600 stores. Rite Aid said Las Vegas was a non-core market for the company that has not been contributing to overall results. The company hasn't opened a new store in the Las Vegas area since 1999.
On February 5, 2009, Rite Aid Corporation announced that it will terminate its operations of 12 Rite Aid stores in the San Francisco, California and Eastern Idaho areas through a sale to Walgreens
Walgreens
Walgreen Co. , doing business as Walgreens , is the largest drugstore chain in the United States of America. As of August 31st, the company operates 8,210 locations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1901, and has since expanded...
. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/07/BUKR15P55I.DTL&type=business