Eckerd Pharmacy
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| Eckerd Pharmacy | |
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| Type | Pharmacy; Subsidiary of Rite Aid |
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| Founded | 1898 |
| Headquarters | Warwick, Rhode Island |
| Products | Pharmacy, Liquor, Cosmetics, Health and Beauty Aids, General Merchandise, Snacks, 1 Hour Photo |
| Website | http://www.eckerd.com/ |
Eckerd Pharmacy is a drug store chain with more than 1,549 stores in more than 13 states across the Mid-Atlantic and New England portions of the United States. The store base stretches from Georgia to New York. In August 2006, Rite Aid announced plans to acquire the chain and retire the Eckerd brand established in 1898. The shareholders of Rite Aid approved the merger on January 18, 2007.
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[edit] History
Eckerd Pharmacy was founded in September 1898 (making it the oldest of the big four American drugstore chains), by 27 year old J. Milton Eckerd in Erie, Pennsylvania. In 1912, Eckerd sold his original store to his sons and moved to Wilmington, Delaware, establishing a new store. From Delaware, the chain expanded to North Carolina and later Florida.[1] In 1961, Eckerd changed from a proprietorship to a publicly owned company. At Eckerd's height, Eckerd had over 2,800 stores in more than 20 states, including 1,600 Eckerd Express Photo one-hour photo labs in 19 states, and revenue of $13.1 billion in fiscal year 2000. Eckerd was the dominant drug chain in Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania.
[edit] J.C. Penney and Jean Coutu
In 1996, J.C. Penney and Eckerd agreed to merge. Under the agreement, all of JCPenney's Thrift Drug unit of drug stores (comprised of Thrift Drug, Kerr Drugs, Fay's Drugs, and some Rite Aids) were rebranded to the Eckerd name.
Eckerd was owned by JCPenney from 1997 to 2004, and was one of the largest drug store chains in the U.S., with over 2,800 stores stretching from New York and Connecticut to Florida and west to Arizona. In July 2004, JC Penney sold all of the Eckerd stores along the Eastern Seaboard from Georgia to Connecticut to the Jean Coutu Group. The other stores, mainly in the Southeastern and Southwestern United States, were sold to CVS. The other Eckerd stores that were sold to the Jean Coutu Group were merged with Coutu's other American pharmacy chain, Brooks Pharmacy.
[edit] CVS Conversions
Over 1,000 Eckerd stores were purchased by CVS and converted to the CVS name throughout late 2004 and 2005, eliminating the Eckerd name from markets such as Florida and Texas, which had once been amongst the chain's strongholds.
[edit] Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy
Jean Coutu kept the remainder of the stores, mostly in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. states. Jean Coutu is operating the stores it purchased under the slightly modified "Eckerd Pharmacy" name. (The word "pharmacy" was recently added to the logo.)
Eckerd is currently a unit of the Quebec-based Jean Coutu Group. The corporate headquarters was recently transferred from Florida to Rhode Island, the base of Jean Coutu's other U.S. chain, Brooks Pharmacy. The Eckerd and Brooks chains now share many of the same corporate functions. In addition, the Jean Coutu Group has recently introduced an alternate version of the Eckerd Pharmacy logo featuring a red Eckerd Capsule in an attempt to unify the Eckerd and Brooks chains.
[edit] Acquisition by Rite Aid
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On August 23, 2006, the Wall Street Journal reported that Rite Aid will acquire 1,858 Eckerd Pharmacy and Brooks Pharmacy US stores from the Jean Coutu Group for US$3.4 billion. Rite Aid announced that the two chains would be converted to the Rite Aid name, retiring the 109-year-old Eckerd banner. The deal is expected to close on or about March 3, 2007, when the Eckerd name is expected to be retired.
It is not yet known how many existing Eckerd stores or Rite Aid stores will be closed as a result.
[edit] See Also
[edit] Eckerd College
The son of the founder of the drug store chain, Jack Eckerd, made a large donation to Florida Presbyterian College in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1971, after which the College was renamed in his honor (Eckerd College).
[edit] Notes
- ^ Eric Ruth. "Del. fixture Eckerd acquired", Delaware News-Journal, August 25, 2006. Retrieved on August 26, 2006.
