Brooks Eckerd drugstores will be getting a new look.
Acquired by Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid Corp., Brooks Eckerd has transferred ownership of its stores throughout 18 states to the rival drugstore chain. As part of its rebranding campaign, Rite Aid picked 23 former Eckerd locations to be part of a pilot program to change over the stores. One of the locations is the Eckerd store on York Road in Baltimore.
“It?s an ongoing process,” said Ashley Flower, a spokeswoman for Rite Aid. “We started [rebranding] the day we announced the conversion process. Once we see how our systems and conversions are working out, it should take one [year] to fully integrate all the stores we have acquired.”
Flower also told The Examiner that no more than two stores at a time would be changed over. Substantial changes can be expected, including the addition of more than 8,000 new products, the sale of Rite Aid brand goods, the addition of programs designed for specific health issues and the hiring of more pharmacy technicians. Rite Aid indicated that all current Eckerd employees would be retained during the change.
Total investment into upgrades and remodeling of old locations is estimated at around $1 billion, and Rite Aid anticipates opening nearly 1,000 new and relocated stores over the next five years.
Rite Aid becomes the third-largest chain of drugstores in the United States, trailing only Walgreens and CVS. The company projects annual revenues of more than $27 billion.
And while Rite Aid seems to be putting effort into its $2.4 billion investment, market experts believe hard work is what it will take to make the business venture a success.
“Though the company raised its outlook regarding anticipated synergies from the impending acquisition,” wrote Mitchell P. Corwin, a Rite Aid analyst for Morningstar, in his most recent company report, “we remain wary of the transaction, given the risks posed by the significant debt load of the new entity and the tough competitive environment.”
