Walgreens Close To Buying Rite Aid

[storewanderer]

I think part of what Staples was trying to argue was the various mail order/catalog providers of supplies are competition. The names escape me.

Retail office supply stores are a dying breed and we will see more and more of those close. Also it seems like drugstores, Wal Mart, etc. have less space for office supplies than they had in the past. One could argue the expansion of chains like Michaels has taken away the business these places once had for markers and colored paper but in general I think people are just using fewer office supplies than they once did so these stores are just becoming less and less useful.

Maybe in another 5 years once they have both gotten even smaller, Staples and Office Depot can try a merger again. If Office Depot even stays in business that long. If.

[norcalriteaidclerk]

Getting back to the topic,what I have noticed that at least some of the California Rite Aid closures in recent years have been due to either getting squeezed out due to redevelopment(the 2 Mountain View locations both of which were formerly PayLess Drug)or objection to rent hikes(the Lawrence Station ex-Thrifty in Santa Clara as well as a couple of suburban San Diego locations in El Cajon and Santee);while the other 2 chains would have simply relocated stores if in the same boat...

Additionally,Walgreens has started offering Western Union services in many if not all stores,which has long been the norm for Rite Aid locations.Though I'm not totally certain whether Longs did it prior to its merger,CVS/pharmacy offers the services of WU competitor Moneygram;which makes the thought of likely divestures interesting.While I'm not totally certain on whether incumbent WAG stores utilize Kodak or Fuji apparatus for their in-store photo services(digital or traditional film processing),I know RAD has used Fujifilm for years while CVS uses Kodak on top of pre-merger LDG using Kodak processing as well...

While it's no secret that the FTC slipped up badly on the Albertsonsafeway divestures,I must note that labor-friendly Democrats mercifully hold the respective Attorney General offices in California(my home state since birth)and New York,perhaps the two biggest states with heavy RAD/WAG overlaps(Massachusetts and Michigan could also pose antitrust headaches).Whether it's ABSWY reviving the freestanding Sav-On/Osco chain and/or Kroger considering a standalone drugstore chain beyond the scattered such-operations it has in certain areas(the Eckerd trademarks quietly expired a few years back would be theoretically be available if it chose to take control of those relevant trademarks) on top of CVS obviously acquiring certain overlap stores to fill geographical holes,as long as it doesn't come to another Haggen fiasco or worse,I'll definitely be a happy camper as long as I still have a job;as I doubt whether the FTC and/or DOJ(which has gotten lax on antitrust enforcement especially the past two decades)will take a Staples-OfficeDepot/Max stand on this merger just based on the CVS(which just completed the Target pharmacies acquisition)and W**-M**t factor.

[submariner]

While I'm not totally certain on whether incumbent WAG stores utilize Kodak or Fuji apparatus for their in-store photo services(digital or traditional film processing),I know RAD has used Fujifilm for years while CVS uses Kodak on top of pre-merger LDG using Kodak processing as well...

Most, if not all Walgreens send out film photo jobs now. Their kiosks are all Hewlett Packard now, and if they have any large batch printers for digital prints, I'm nearly certain they're Konica-Minolta.


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[storewanderer]

Rite Aid is also building a new store in Susanville, CA to replace a RA1 in the shopping center with Safeway (this was a 45 degree Payless from the early 1990's; downsized to RA1 with a funny drive through installed in the middle of the parking lot; Safeway took the space cut off in the remodel to RA1). The new Rite Aid is in central Susanville closer to the old section of town. There also used to be a Thrifty in Susanville but that is long closed; the new Rite Aid is closer to where that was.

There is a freestanding, poorly performing Walgreens near the current Rite Aid.

I wonder which store CVS will be buying.

I guess this store in Susanville will be one of the last new build Rite Aids to open IF this merger goes through. I happily voted NO on that merger when I got my share proxy last week.

[pseudo3d]

Wonder if the way this will unfold is Walgreens ends up "buying" Rite Aid, does some name swapping on stores it wants the most, then spins off the less-important stores as Rite Aid, thus essentially divesting the name.

In terms of "new candidates", I bet Walmart Express might end up picking up stores if it does go through.

[norcalriteaidclerk]

Wonder if the way this will unfold is Walgreens ends up "buying" Rite Aid, does some name swapping on stores it wants the most, then spins off the less-important stores as Rite Aid, thus essentially divesting the name.

In terms of "new candidates", I bet Walmart Express might end up picking up stores if it does go through.

I hope not.In fact,the Walton family that controls W**-M**t deserves sizable(if not sole)blame for some of the more recent retail mergers within the past decade or two(including this one as well as the controversial Staples-Office Depot/Max one on top of too many grocery ones to keep track of).As it stands,W**-M**t is a clearly glaring antitrust violation even with sticking to organic growth.The idea of them expanding their experimental Express format is no better than the thought of hundreds(if not thousands)of drugstore buildings converted to non-drugstore or even non-retail uses.In fact,the thought of a W**-M**t Express inside of a defunct RAD unit can be a bigger eyesore than a vacant and abandoned former RAD unit...

[arizonaguy]

Wonder if the way this will unfold is Walgreens ends up "buying" Rite Aid, does some name swapping on stores it wants the most, then spins off the less-important stores as Rite Aid, thus essentially divesting the name.

In terms of "new candidates", I bet Walmart Express might end up picking up stores if it does go through.

I hope not.In fact,the Walton family that controls W**-M**t deserves sizable(if not sole)blame for some of the more recent retail mergers within the past decade or two(including this one as well as the controversial Staples-Office Depot/Max one on top of too many grocery ones to keep track of).As it stands,W**-M**t is a clearly glaring antitrust violation even with sticking to organic growth.The idea of them expanding their experimental Express format is no better than the thought of hundreds(if not thousands)of drugstore buildings converted to non-drugstore or even non-retail uses.In fact,the thought of a W**-M**t Express inside of a defunct RAD unit can be a bigger eyesore than a vacant and abandoned former RAD unit...

There are dozens of abandoned Walgreens, Eckard, Osco, and Fresh and Easy locations around the Phoenix area. I'd prefer ANY use to no use at all.

[storewanderer]

Wal Mart tried its "Marketside" format which was essentially Wal Mart Express with a better fresh offering in Phoenix area in a couple of former Sav-On/Osco Stores and closed those pretty quick.

I don't think Wal Mart will be buying any more drugstores for small format stores.

In fact, Wal Mart announced recently they will be scaling back development of small format stores. They still claim the small format stores are doing well but I feel like we have heard this song and dance so many times of them doing some heavy expansion on small format, then it fizzles off real fast, and most of the small format Wal Mart locations I visit, outside of California, are not doing much business.

[arizonaguy]

Wal Mart tried its "Marketside" format which was essentially Wal Mart Express with a better fresh offering in Phoenix area in a couple of former Sav-On/Osco Stores and closed those pretty quick.

I don't think Wal Mart will be buying any more drugstores for small format stores.

In fact, Wal Mart announced recently they will be scaling back development of small format stores. They still claim the small format stores are doing well but I feel like we have heard this song and dance so many times of them doing some heavy expansion on small format, then it fizzles off real fast, and most of the small format Wal Mart locations I visit, outside of California, are not doing much business.

We only have one "express" store in Arizona which is basically a glorified convenience store but as far as the Neighborhood Markets out here, I can't imagine that they're very profitable at all. They've succeeded in putting some marginal Safeway stores out of business (after the Neighborhood Market opened across the street) but that's about it. There is usually very little traffic in the Neighborhood Market stores. On the plus side, as there are so few customers, customer service is great at Neighborhood Markets because the employees are happy to see customers.

[norcalriteaidclerk]

Stumbling onto this interesting read,it's hard to believe that the seeds for my company's quick rise and hard fall were planted as far back as 1994(when I was still in high school transitioning from junior to senior,2 years before they acquired Thrifty Payless,and 4 years before I began my current employment with Rite Aid).Considering how I've stuck things out this long through all the struggles of the post-Grass regimes,I've tried to take a neutral position on this merger.I just hope for a happy ending regardless of the fate of my store(whose planned Wellness conversion is at least on indefinite hold if not scrapped entirely).

Another thing:Walgreens doesn't sell California Lottery tickets in its incumbent stores.RAD has resumed selling them at select locations(including a Roseville location that I was loaned out to over a month ago),and many PayLess Drug legacy locations continued to sell them as late as the mid-2000's.It may remain to be seen if the RAD locations that do sell lottery tickets continue to do so.OTOH,CVS/pharmacy consistently sells lottery at most if not all CA locations,and this was the case with pre-merger Longs Drugs as well...

Also,it's interesting to see what happens to some of the large PayLess stores still operated by RAD(middle Florin,Castro Valley,San Mateo/Concar,many units in the Pacific Northwest)...