Formerly called
|
Thrifty D Discount Center (1962–1968) |
---|---|
Public (Acquisition by Walgreens Boots Alliance pending) |
|
Traded as | : RAD |
Industry | Retailing |
Founded | September 12, 1962 Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Founder | Alex Grass |
Headquarters | East Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States |
Number of locations
|
4,553 (Sep. 2016) |
Key people
|
John T. Standley, Chairman & CEO; Ken Martindale, President & Chief Operating Officer; Frank Vitrano, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Administrative Officer |
Products | Pharmacy |
Revenue | US$ 30.736 billion (FY2016) |
US$ 731.28 million (FY2016) | |
US$ 165.47 million (FY2016) | |
Total assets | US$ 11.277 billion (FY2016) |
Total equity | US$ 581.43 million (FY2016) |
Number of employees
|
89,000 (2016) |
Website | www.riteaid.com |
Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain in the United States and a Fortune 500 company headquartered in East Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, near Camp Hill. Rite Aid is the largest drugstore chain on the East Coast and the third largest in the U.S.
Rite Aid began in 1962 as a single store opened in Scranton, Pennsylvania called Thrift 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. Its major competitors are CVS and Walgreens. The latter announced on October 27, 2015, that it would acquire Rite Aid for $17.4 billion pending approval.
Alex Grass founded the Rite Aid chain in Scranton, Pennsylvania in September 1962. The first store was called Thrift D Discount Center, a health and beauty aids store, without a pharmacy. It was an offshoot of Rack Rite Distributors, a subsidiary of his father-in law’s Lehrman & Sons which Alex Grass launched in 1958. The company rented and stocked racks with health and beauty aids in grocery stores. In 1965, Thrift D's 23rd store added a pharmacy and the company name was changed to Rite Aid. 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 in 1970. In 2011, Rite Aid was ranked #100 on Fortune 500 Largest U.S. Corporations.
Ten years after its first store opened, Rite Aid operated 267 locations in 10 states. 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, as did the acquisition of Gray Drug in 1987. 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.