Rite Aid Corporation (Rite Aid) is one of the nation's leading drugstore chains. With the June 4, 2007 acquisition of Brooks Eckerd, the company has annual revenues of more than $27 billion, more than 5,000 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia, with a strong presence on both the East and West coasts, and approximately 116,000 associates. Rite Aid sells prescription drugs and a wide assortment of other merchandise, which it calls "front-end" products. In fiscal 2007, prescription drug sales accounted for 63.7% of total sales. Rite Aid offers approximately 26,000 front-end products, which accounted for the remaining 36.3% of total sales in fiscal 2007. Rite Aid attempts to distinguish its stores from other national chain drugstores, in part, through its private brands and its strategic alliance with GNC, a leading retailer of vitamin and mineral supplements. There are four distinct phases to Rite Aid's integration plan with Brooks/Eckerd. |