Eckerd Corporation
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| Fate | Acquired by Rite Aid |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1898 |
| Defunct | 2004/2007 |
| Headquarters | Warwick, Rhode Island |
| Products | Pharmacy, Cosmetics, Health and Beauty Aids, General Merchandise, Snacks, 1 Hour Photo |
Eckerd Corporation was a drug store chain with more than 1,549 stores in more than 13 states across the United States. Eckerd stores in many major Southern markets were acquired by CVS Corporation in 2004. The remaining stores were sold to the Jean Coutu Group and merged with its Brooks Pharmacy chain. Brooks Eckerd, Jean Coutu's U.S. operations, would eventually be sold to Rite Aid. In return, a stake in Rite Aid was ceded to the French-Canadian company.
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[edit] History
Eckerd was founded in September 1898 (making it the oldest of the "big 4" drugstore chains), by 27-year-old J. Milton Eckerd and Z. Tatom in Erie, Pennsylvania. In 1912, Eckerd and Tatom sold their original store to Eckerd's sons and moved to Wilmington, Delaware, establishing a new store. From Delaware, the chain expanded to North Carolina and later Florida.[1] Jack Eckerd son of the founder was responsible for the expansion of the company when he acquired three stores in Florida in 1952.
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 stores with 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 Delaware.[citation needed]
[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 (comprising Thrift Drug, Kerr Drugs, Fay's Drugs, and some Rite Aid stores) were rebranded to the larger Eckerd name. This marked Eckerd's re-entry into the Pennsylvania market. Many Thrift Drug stores were remodeled to Eckerd's look, having their light fixtures replaced. In turn, JCPenney Catalog Centers, like Thrift Drug long had, were added to Eckerd stores.
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. One carryover from the Thrift Drug days after J.C. Penney took over was the presence of J.C. Penney Catalog Centers inside certain locations. This would continue even after J.C. Penney sold off the chain.
In 1998, Eckerd acquired the 141-store Genovese chain in the New York metropolitan area,[2] and renamed the stores in 2003.[3]
In July 2004, JCPenney 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
CVS Corporation (now CVS Caremark Corporation) bought more than 1,200 Eckerd stores and converted most of them to CVS/pharmacy in late 2004 and 2005, eliminating the Eckerd name from markets such as Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi, which had once been among the chain's strongholds. Even a few brand-new locations in Arizona were transformed into CVS almost as quickly as they were built as Eckerd stores. The CVS purchase also included the Eckerd stores located in Colorado; however, CVS opted to close these stores.[4]
[edit] Brooks Eckerd Pharmacy
Jean Coutu kept the remainder of the stores, mostly in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. states. Jean Coutu operated the stores it purchased under the slightly modified "Eckerd Pharmacy" name.
Eckerd was a unit of the Quebec-based Jean Coutu Group. The corporate headquarters was transferred from Florida to Rhode Island, the base of Jean Coutu's other U.S. chain, Brooks Pharmacy. The Eckerd and Brooks chains shared many of the same corporate functions. In addition, the Jean Coutu Group 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
On August 23, 2006, the Wall Street Journal reported that Rite Aid would 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 merger was signed and completed as of June 4, 2007, with all Eckerd stores converted to Rite Aid by the end of September 2007.
The conversion process consisted of two steps: new computer systems, and a full PPR (paint, powder, re-set) which consisted of new signage and a new design scheme. Many of the stores received new paint on their exteriors, making them look more like brick than the white stucco design of most Eckerd locations.
Also as a result of the merger, the J.C. Penney Catalog Centers were permanently closed inside locations that had them. However, J.C. Penney Credit Cards are now accepted at all Rite Aid locations, even at stores that were Rite Aid before the deal with Eckerd.
The deal has also left Rite Aid with interesting locations within close proximity to each other to the point of competing with each other. (Only a small handful of stores have closed or were sold off to Walgreens, The Medicine Shoppe, or independent owners in order to meet federal regulations.) CVS went through a similar situation in the Chicago area after its purchase of Albertson's drug store chains. As a result, there are several cases where the stores are only a few blocks from each other, or even right next door to each other. This is particularly the case in Pennsylvania where Rite Aid (due to being based in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, near the state capital of Harrisburg) and Eckerd (due to its Pennsylvania roots in Erie as well as stores that were once Thrift Drug having roots in the Pittsburgh area) were both dominant in the state.
[edit] Slogans
- You'll like what we'll do for you!
- America's Family Drugstore
- It's Right at Eckerd!
- That's the Reason there's Eckerd: Because America Can't Wait!
- Right There With You (1998-2000)
- Get More! (2001-2007)
[edit] See also
[edit] Eckerd College
Jack Eckerd, the son of the founder of the drug store chain, 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 (2006-08-25). "Del. fixture Eckerd acquired". Delaware News-Journal. http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060825/BUSINESS/608250339/1003/. Retrieved 2006-08-26.
- ^ Terry Pristin (November 25, 1998). "J.C. Penney to Buy Genovese, Expanding Its Drugstore Chain". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/25/nyregion/jc-penney-to-buy-genovese-expanding-its-drugstore-chain.html?scp=51&sq=genovese%20drug&st=cse. Retrieved December 23, 2009.
- ^ Matt Donnelly (July 16, 2003). "Genovese Drug Stores Take on Eckerd Name". Newsday. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-105470954.html. Retrieved December 23, 2009.
- ^ "Business: CVS backs out of Eckerd's Colorado expansion plans". Sptimes.com. 2004-04-12. http://www.sptimes.com/2004/04/12/news_pf/Business/CVS_backs_out_of_Ecke.shtml. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
[edit] External links
- Eckerd Pharmacy
- Eckerd Corp History
- Deal has 2 firms splitting Eckerd
- Page on the history of Eckerd pharmacies at Vault.com
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