Thrift Drug

==Background==
Was '''
Thrift Drug Inc.'''
* Now out of business as a consumer brand and store.
* Title sponsor for the Thrift Drug Classic, a bike race held for a few years in Pittsburgh.
* Was a Company with Headquarters Location at 615 Alpha Dr., Pittsburgh PA 15238.
* Was later with JC Penney's.
(412)963-6600, (412)967-8293 fax, 
Was a drug store, Pharmaceutical Preparations.
Now see Eckerd, http://www.eckerd.com.
==Insights==
Thrift Drug was a pharmacy chain based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that was purchased by J.C. Penney in 1968, and was expanded greatly thereafter. The chain served as the flagship chain of J.C. Penney's pharmacy group. The chain didn't hide its affiliation with J.C. Penney, as it had J.C. Penney catalogs inside their locations as well as signs advertizing "J.C. Penney Catalog Center".
In 1996, J.C. Penney purchased the Eckerd Corporation , and decided to merge Thrift Drug and all other pharmacy chains into the larger Eckerd chain. The Thrift Drug banner was retired by the end of 1997.
==Details==
Kerr Drug was originally founded in Raleigh by Banks Kerr in 1951, the chain was operating 97 stores when it was acquired in 1995 by JCPenney. In 1996, JCPenney also added Fay’s Drug, Inc. in New York and 190 Rite Aid stores in the Carolinas to its existing Thrift Drug/Treasury Drug operation. In 1996, JCPenney’s attempted purchase of Eckerd Drug Inc. raised serious FTC concerns of threatened competition in the region. The FTC ultimately forced JCPenney to divest itself of 34 former Kerr Drug stores and 130 Rite Aids in Carolina. This entity was to become the “new” Kerr Drug. JCPenney approached over 20 serious bidders for the stores, but the Kerr name and 164 stores were ultimately purchased by a group led by former Thrift Drug executives who left the JCPenney organization following the Eckerd acquisition. The re-birth of Kerr Drug marked the return of a recognized and respected name in the chain drug industry to its roots in the Carolinas. 
category:company