Osco Drug, Inc.
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| Pharmacy/Retail | |
| Founded | 1937 (Rochester, Minnesota) |
| Headquarters | Boise, Idaho, U.S. |
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Key people
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Robert Miller, Chairman and CEO |
| Products | Pharmacy, Liquor, Cosmetics, Health and Beauty Aids, General Merchandise, Snacks, 1 Hour Photo |
| Parent | Albertsons |
| Website |
www www www www www |
Osco Drug and Sav-on Drugs were the names of a pair of chain pharmacies that operated in the United States. Osco Drug was founded by the Skaggs family. Alpha Beta grocery store was purchased by American Stores in 1961. Skaggs Drug Centers bought American Stores in 1979 and assumed the American Stores name. Sav-on Drugs was a California-based pharmacy chain that was acquired by Osco's parent company in 1980. Both Osco and Sav-on stores eventually came under the ownership of American Stores, then Albertsons, and finally SuperValu before the stores were sold off.
The Osco and Sav-on brands survive today as brandings for in-store pharmacies in the Albertsons chain of stores. Osco pharmacies can be found in Jewel stores, which are co-branded Jewel-Osco, as well as in Shaw's and Star Markets. Sav-on pharmacies are found largely in Acme stores. Albertsons stores, depending on the market, feature either brand.
In 1915, S.M. Skaggs, a Baptist minister from Missouri settled in American Falls, Idaho. Prices on all commodities in American Falls were high, and Skaggs opened a store with reduced prices, and offered a cash and carry service with low margins to create high volume. S.M Skaggs had 12 children. The six sons: Pepper Oscar (O.P.), Marion Barton (M.B.), Loronzo L. (L.L), Samuel Olnie (L.S.), Levi Justin (L.J.), and Aron Sylvester (S.A.) helped with the operation of the store.
In 1917, O.P Skaggs started a chain of self-service stores, and later sold the franchise in the western states to Christian Call (Call later opened the first Sav-on store in San Bernardino, California in 1945). In 1919 brothers M.B., L.S., L.L., and L.J. formed a partnership called Skaggs United Stores. This company later became the Safeway grocery chain, led by M.B. Skaggs. L.J. Skaggs retired from Safeway in 1932, and in 1934 opened the first self-service drugstore in the US in Tacoma, Washington. He applied the self-service principle to his drugstore.
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