Rite Aid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rite Aid Corporation | |
 |
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| Type | Public (NYSE: RAD) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1962 - as Thrif D Discount 1968 - Public, as Rite Aid Corp |
| Headquarters | Camp Hill, Pennsylvania |
| Key people | Mary Sammons, President & CEO Robert G. Miller, Chairman |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Retail-Pharmacy |
| Revenue | $16.5 billion USD (2004) |
| Employees | 72,000 |
| Slogan | With us, it's personal. |
| Website | www.riteaid.com |
Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) is a United States retailer and pharmacy chain, operating nearly 3,400 stores in 28 states and the District of Columbia. 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. Rite Aid is headquartered in Camp Hill, a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Its major competitors include CVS and Walgreens.
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[edit] History
The Rite Aid chain began 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 Exchange. It moved to the New York Stock Exchange in 1970.
[edit] Rapid expansion
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 States 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, which had the slogan "Run Right to Read's".
Rite Aid acquired the Michigan chain Perry Drug Stores in 1995, and the 1,000-store West Coast chain Thrifty PayLess in 1996. The acquisition of Thrifty PayLess included the Northwest-based Bi-Mart membership discount stores, which was sold off in 1997. Acquisitions of Harco, Inc. and K & B Inc. brought Rite Aid into the Gulf Coast area.
[edit] Recent years
General Nutrition Companies (GNC) and Rite Aid formed a partnership 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.
Rite Aid has a long-running monthly rebates program known as "Single Check Rebates."
In the fall of 1999, Rite Aid was the subject of several media reports about its aggressive marketing of pharmaceutical products and other consumer-unfriendly practices, including selling date-sensitive products well past the due dates. Rite-Aid is the largest pharmacy chain in California. It has recently been investigated by government regulators in California, Washington, and Oregon. Consumer Complaints Regarding Rite Aid Pharmacy
Rite Aid also had a major accounting scandal that led to the departure (and subequent jail time) of several top ranking executives, including the CEO. At the time, Rite Aid had just acquired Thrifty Payless Drug 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 and profitability.
July 2001, Rite Aid agreed to improve their pharmacy complaint process by implementing a new program to respond to consumer complaints. ["Health Plan Agrees to Improve Pharmacy Complaint Process"]
July 25, 2004, "Rite Aid to pay $7 Million for Allegedly Submitting False Prescription Claims to Government" Deparment of Justice Press Release
Beginning in March 2005, Rite Aid introduced Living More, a seniors' loyalty program; offering 10% off of prescription drugs purchased with cash, generic products, as well as other items. Additional benefits also include discounts on certain days of the week, 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, now holds the same position at Rite Aid.
Early in 2005, the UAW announced that its members prescriptions would be filled through mail order. This decision by the union disproportionately affected Rite Aid as it has predominant market strength where the UAW has its highest union density nationally.
In July 2005, Rite Aid completed its acquisition of Shelley's Pharmacy, a chain pharmacy in Philadelphia.
[edit] Brooks/Eckerd Merger: A New Force is Born
On August 23, 2006, the Wall Street Journal annouced that Rite Aid would be buying the Eckerd Pharmacy and Brooks Pharmacy chains from the Quebec-based Jean Coutu Group for US$3.4 billion, and merging the two chains into one dominant pharmacy system. 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 the third largest drug retailer nationwide (behind faster growing Walgreens and CVS chains).
Ironically, Rite Aid had sold some of their locations to JC Penney's Thrift Drug chain in the mid-1990s shortly before their acquisition of Eckerd, and had also sold all of their Massachusetts stores to Brooks in 1995, bringing some existing Eckerds and Brooks that were once Rite Aids full circle.
[edit] Financial information
Rite Aid reported total sales of USD $16.5 billion in fiscal 2004. As of 2005, its market capitalization was about $2 billion.
[edit] Stock exchanges
Rite Aid is traded publicly on NYSE with ticker symbol RAD.
