News Break:
ALBERSTONS ACQUIRES
RITE AID
ALBERSTONS ACQUIRES
RITE AID
For a comprehensive article chock full of all the details
jump over to ChainStoreAge.com.
Additional details from CNN.com which fills in some blanks remaining from the article on ChainStoreAge.com:
Walgreens wanted to buy up all of Rite Aid in 2015, but federal regulators nixed that agreement on antitrust grounds. In September, the two companies announced a scaled back version for nearly 2,000 of Rite Aid's stores. That left Rite Aid with around 2,600 stores.
Albertsons has 2,220 grocery stores, including Vons, Shaw's and Acme. Its pharmacies will be rebranded as Rite Aid and some Rite Aids will continue to operate as stand-alone stores. Rite Aid CEO John Standley will become CEO of the new combined company while Miller will become chairman.
The end of SavOn and Osco pharmacies are imminent. And I really hope they expand Thrifty Ice Cream, I'd love to see Acme stores carrying them.
ReplyDeleteNot quite. Jewel-Osco pharmacies will not be re-branded, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune.
DeletePhysiFiscal Fitness is correct. Both supermarketnews and progressivegrocer cite the long tradition and good visibility
Deleteof the Jewel-Osco name in the Chi-town area as why they are keeping that name.
Crazy! When the news first broke this morning, I couldn't believe it. This will hopefully be good for Albertsons-- having a name brand (Similar to the CVS-Target partnership) in their stores will bring some more customers in just for the pharmacy alone.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how many more customers this will bring in - the Rite Aid brand doesn’t have that compelling of an image. (And wasn’t the CVS-Target deal a negative at least initially? Target being much more loved than CVS.)
DeleteYeah, if anything, I think the partnership drew people away from coming into Target. A lot of people really don't like CVS. And there is little reason to schlep through Target just to go get a CVS prescription when there is a CVS on the corner.
DeleteThe articles online say that Albertsons is going to close some Rite Aid stores to move them into the supermarket locations they have. I think if customers have to go in Acme or whatever local brand... say Jewel Osco, and see a familiar pharmacy with a stunning grocery store, it will be a positive. You either really hate Rite Aid, or really love it. I don't like their service pharmacy, but their stores are great. A location nearby me (Plumsteadville) just made a new location, and it's absolutely stunning, and brought back my spark for Rite Aid.
DeleteI wonder if Albertsons might run into some issues using the Rite Aid name for their pharmacies in some areas; part of Rite Aid's sale to Walgreens was that they wouldn't reenter the areas they're leaving for at least two years. Walgreens might consider having Shaw's/ Rite Aid in New England, for example, a violation of that, although the solution is pretty simple (just not rename those pharmacies right away).
ReplyDeleteAccording to the articles on supermarketnews.com and progressivegrocer.com, they are very cognizant of overlap and the WG agreement.
DeleteI think the bigger news of this deal is that Albertsons is going to become a public company if this deal gets done. Who knows what impact this will have on Acme and the other units going forward?
ReplyDeleteI don't really have a good reason for thinking so, but this just feels like a disaster waiting to happen.
ReplyDeleteTwo weak companies combining almost never bodes well. Maybe Amazon will end up scooping up both eventually? :P
DeleteA&P + Pathmark = Out of Business
ReplyDeleteA&P + Waldbaums = Out of Business
Albertsons + RiteAid = ?????
I remember the A&P/Pathmark merger referred to as “two drunks helping each other out of the bar.”
Personally I do not see how this benefits Albertsons chains at all. They’ve got pharmacies, is it necessary that they be called Rite Aid? Look what happened to the Sav-On name.....gone.
RiteAid is an expensive drug store, there’s no bargains to be had at RiteAid nor will this be a big customer draw imo.
Well Acme and the rest of Alberstons is an overly expensive grocery chain, so it fits I guess. From my observations though, Rite Aid is actually priced lower than Walgreens, and (the worst), CVS. And their latest new stores/remodels look very classy. But I also don't see how this really benefits either chain though.
DeleteSorry one more big merger I forgot about
ReplyDeleteSears + Kmart = On the way to extinction