text: Rite Aid plans to acquire 130-year-old drug store chain - pennlive.com
  Rite Aid plans to acquire 130-year-old drug store chain
  A Rite Aid store (File photo)File photo.
  East Pennsboro Township-based Rite Aid announced this week that it has reached an agreement to acquire a Washington state drug store chain.
  Rite Aid is planning to acquire Bartell Drugs, 130-year-old family-owned company for $95 million.
  Rite Aid says that Bartell Drugs generates more than $550 million in revenue and fills approximately 5.5 million prescriptions annually across its 67 stores in Seattle and throughout King, Snohomish and Pierce counties in Washington state.
  Bartell Drugs will continue to operate under the Bartell Drugs name. The 67 stores will join Rite Aid's 69 stores in the Seattle area.
  "The acquisition of Bartell's fits perfectly into and accelerates our RxEvolution strategy, as our companies share a commitment to total health and wellness, the importance of the pharmacist as a trusted health advisor and the critical role the neighborhood pharmacy plays," Heyward Donigan, president and chief executive officer of Rite Aid said in a press release. "Expansion within the growing Seattle area will allow Rite Aid to better serve customers, health plans and healthcare providers."
  The transaction is expected to close by the end of Rite Aid's 2021 fiscal year, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
  Rite Aid has been busy in recent years when it comes to proposed acquisitions and mergers. A 2015 acquisition with one company was successful while two other deals didn't work out.
  Rite Aid acquired Envision Pharmaceutical Services, a benefit management company for $2 billion in 2015. Earlier this year the company rebranded Envision to Elixir.
  In October 2015, Walgreens and Rite Aid announced a major deal where Walgreens would acquire Rite Aid. In February 2016, Rite Aid shareholders approved the deal. But, the deal never happened because the Federal Trade Commission never approved it, even as Rite Aid attempted to sell off more than 800 stores to Tennessee-based Fred's Inc. Eventually Walgreens agreed to purchase a total of 1,932 stores, three distribution centers and related inventory from Rite Aid for $4.375 billion.
  In 2018, Rite Aid announced it would merge with Albertsons Companies. On the night before Rite Aid shareholders were slated to vote on the $24 billion merger, both companies announced that they would mutually terminate the agreement.
  Rite Aid has more than 2,400 retail pharmacy locations across 18 states.
  In March it announced plans to invest $700 million over the next two years to overhaul all of its stores. Changes at Rite Aid over the next few years started with a new logo in March but will also include an overhaul in merchandise, implementing workflow changes, re-engineering how the entire pharmacy team works, changing workspace, hiring more technicians and digital updates. New remodeled stores will also include an open counter for pharmacists to easily step out and interact with customers.