Albertsons to buy (what's left of) RiteAid

[cathandler]

that means you will likely start seeing thrifty ice cream at safeway if this occurs.

Hopefully, but from what I've seen of Albertsons, it's more likely you'll see Signature Select ice cream at Rite Aid.

[rwsandiego]

Apparently, Albertsons learned its lesson from the Lucky debacle and won't mess with Jewel-Osco. Besides, RiteAid never operated in or near Chicago, so that name is meaningless. Regarding the other markets, it seems to make sense to brand the pharmacies "RiteAid." "Albertsons-SavOn" didn't exactly roll off the tongue and the combination of the very different Albertsons and Osco logos simply looks odd. "Acme SavOn" never made sense, as SavOn didn't operate stores anywhere near Acme.

I can almost hear "At RiteAid, you can count on people who care."

[storewanderer]

I hate to say it, but I actually think this is an okay move. I absolutely prefer this to the old plan where Walgreens was to buy all of Rite Aid and Rite Aid goes away entirely.

I have some concerns about the FTC and overlap especially in rural parts of northern California where Safeway and Rite Aid are often the only two retail stores, but I guess we will just see what happens with that. Maybe Walgreens will get divested a few more stores after all.

The debt of the combined company is pretty horrific and based on how shareholders are being compensated I think Rite Aid shareholders are getting pretty screwed here. We don't even know the value yet since part of the value to Rite Aid shareholders is the value of some to-be-determined Albertsons IPO price. I also would have liked to see Rite Aid's financial performance as a stand alone company (after divesting everything off to Walgreens that they arranged last year) as I don't think the shares were necessarily valued properly since there was nothing to go off of. I think Albertsons is getting a very good deal on the remainder of Rite Aid and Bob Miller knows full well about the performance of the various parts of Rite Aid. Walgreens was sold literal garbage and the better assets remained with Rite Aid.

I also hope this allows the drug and general merchandise mix and pricing to be improved in the Safeway Stores. I see this as a step away from the Safeway dilution of drug/general merchandise strategy and a return to the more "deep" drug/general merchandise strategy that American Stores and Albertsons both previously employed due to owning Osco/Sav-On. And that is a very positive thing.

It is too bad Kroger didn't make this move, but I guess they are too busy courting various money-losing .coms and selling off profitable convenience stores. At least someone still is showing an interest in operating retail stores and expanding those operations and for that I can certainly appreciate what Albertsons is doing.

[storewanderer]

Apparently, Albertsons learned its lesson from the Lucky debacle and won't mess with Jewel-Osco. Besides, RiteAid never operated in or near Chicago, so that name is meaningless. Regarding the other markets, it seems to make sense to brand the pharmacies "RiteAid." "Albertsons-SavOn" didn't exactly roll off the tongue and the combination of the very different Albertsons and Osco logos simply looks odd. "Acme SavOn" never made sense, as SavOn didn't operate stores anywhere near Acme.

I can almost hear "At RiteAid, you can count on people who care."

I'm not sure how important it is to rebrand the pharmacies. I'd rather see actual combo stores if we are going to see multiple brand storefronts. I also hope this is the end of that "Signature Care" line - just have Rite Aid brand items and be done with it.

[storewanderer]

that means you will likely start seeing thrifty ice cream at safeway if this occurs.

Hopefully, but from what I've seen of Albertsons, it's more likely you'll see Signature Select ice cream at Rite Aid.

The press release already said they would be integrating Rite Aid brands into the combined operation as well as putting their own grocery brands into Rite Aid. I think Rite Aid's "Big Win" food brand could make a great generic/value brand (much better than "Value Corner" which just screams garbage quality).

Hopefully the private label program on drug will be handled by Rite Aid. The "Signature Care" line is overpriced, questionable quality, and still has a very spotty mix. It is one of the worst drug/gm private labels I've ever seen. Equaline was much, much better (best private label drug mix of any grocery chain).

I expect we will see expanded distribution and manufacturing of Thrifty Ice Cream at least in the west/southwest.

[jamcool]

that means you will likely start seeing thrifty ice cream at safeway if this occurs.

Hopefully, but from what I've seen of Albertsons, it's more likely you'll see Signature Select ice cream at Rite Aid.

More likely you will see Lucerne ice cream at RiteAid

[Alpha8472]

Albertsons should definitely gain from this merger. The pharmacies at Safeway are empty of customers most of the time. Rite Aid should really bring in some more business to those stores.

Rite Aid is a smart company. They don't take the money losing Blue Cross Medi-Cal plan
Safeway takes that insurance and it loses a ton of money. Every prescription filled actually loses money for the pharmacy inside of Safeway. Rite Aid knows how to make a profit with their pharmacies.

Rite Aid branded over the counter medications and healthcare products will really improve the selection at Safeway. I also like the Big Win brand. Those products are really good, and I would buy them over the awful Value Corner brand.

I hope that Albertsons keeps those standalone Rite Aid stores as they are. Rite Aid stores are much cheaper and nicer than Walgreens. The remodeled Rite Aid stores look great and are well stocked compared to Walgreens.

[marshd1000]

I’m wondering if Sav On could be used as a generic brand somehow? I remember that Albertsons had Grocery Outlet try taking the Lucky brand away from them. So it seems that Sav On would be a nice replacement for Value Corner! Another thing I am wondering, I know some situations, where Safeway and Rite Aid are only separated by a wall. The Marketplace @ Factoria comes to mind. There is a remodeled but somewhat smallish Safeway there. Maybe the though push out the walls and combine the two stores?

[marshd1000]

I also realized that Albertsons, or whatever the new name will be, will have a much greater footprint in Utah. Many of the Rite Aid stores in Utah were former PayLess Drugs that had been Osco and Skaggs. So it is another reuniting of the Albertsons and Skaggs empires. The thing that I thought was always weird about American Stores is that, pre Albertsons, the sold all their Utah stores but kept corporate in Salt Lake!

The other thing this merger does is return the Rite Aid name to Alaska through Carr’s and Safeway. The stores that Rite Aid had in Alaska we’re larger PayLess Drug locations acquired from Pay ‘n Save. They did not last long in Alaska!

[jamcool]

And in a number of markets (like AZ and NM) people will wonder “what the hell is a Rite Aid?”