Eckerd Drugs has been SOLD!

[Poohbear123]

To CVS Pharmacy! Some stores will close others will have improved service. Eckerds has been a staple here in Florida for many years, sorry to see it go, but, its Pharmacy Service was bad the last 6 years or so. JC Penney sold them to CVS.

 

[Grog]

That might turn out to be a good thing here. They might not close any Eckerds here as I don't think any are too close to a CVS. The service in our Eckerds has been poor the past couple of years, and the stores appear run down. Hopefully CVS will turn it around. I mainly use Walgreens, but if I need something while at work, there's an Eckerds across the street.

 

[Stepharoonie!]

Wow. That's pretty shocking.

 

[Galahad]

its Pharmacy Service was bad the last 6 years or so

We noticed this too. It was a big problem and we avoided them completely after a while.

This will probably hurt the St. Pete area. Isn't the Eckerd headquarters there?

 

[DwarfMaster]

I have some family that work for Eckerd. From what they've been told, the sale was split between 2 companies. CVS bought Eckerd's mail order pharmacy, and in the Northeast all stores will still be called Eckerd ~ just under new mgmt. However in the south, a second company has bought the stores and they will be renamed.

 

[ibouncetoo]

hmmmm, this is interesting. Eckerd has just expanded into the Phoenix market and they've been building new ones all over the place. Over the last few years Walgreens has gone on an expansion spree too. Building brand new free standing stores. I've wondered how they do it, as I never shop in a drug store. I guess the pharmacy is what keeps them going (which says a lot for the profit margin in that department!).

 

[Keggy]

I work for another company that was started by the Eckerd family. The family does not have any ties to the drugstore chain and sold all their stock awhile back. We have been hearing rumors for a few months now that the drug store was going to be sold. It is good to hear that they have finally worked out all the details!

My last day is Friday though...I hope I still get my JC Penney discount until then!

Kelly

 

[Poohbear123]

My Publix Supermarkets have always been located NEXT to the Eckerds for years....however, the last 10 years or so, Walgreens have been popping up next door to us, in fact, the store I am in now, the Property is owned by Walgreens. We pay them rent! The Eckerds that was across the street is now a CVS and doing well.

 

[Dax]

Honestly, I will like to see CVS take over the Eckards. I prefer going to Walgreens, but would use CVS if there was one here in my town.

 

[Rajah]

Hmm, that's going to be interesting. Just down the street from work we have a new CVS that just opened about 2 months ago, and they're building an Eckerd's across the street! And these are both just one block down the street from the Walgreens.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

Wow, Eckerd just moved into Colorado. Haven't been there yet, still shopping at Walgreens!!!

 

[luv2nascar]

I don't really care for CVS so that doesn't excite me much
I like Eckerd's when they were Thrift Drug stores
so many chains and you get treated all the same
Walgreens, Riteaid etc

 

[Bob Slydell]

I guess the one thing Eckard's fans could hope for is that the deal doesn't get through the SEC, which is entirely possible, given the growing lack of drug store chains in the US these days.

 

[Crankyshank]

Actually, the info is not entirely correct.
CVS is getting approx 1200 of the stores, which will make them the largest pharmacy in the US. The rest of the stores are being sold to a Canadian company. For those in NE - they own Brooks.

CVS is headquartered here in RI and my company monitors their WAN, so this was pretty big news here.

 

[Nancy]

Our Eckerd was a Fays drugstore before it was bought out. I don't really like Eckerd, prices are very high. we have tons of Walgreens and Rite Aids in the area. The only CVS we had close by closed before Christmas..it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[suzannews]

There is a new Eckerds being built right down the road from me, across the street from the Walgreens. I checked today, the sign still says, coming soon Eckerds. I'd like to see what happens here. Maybe thats the problem though, every corner around here that has a Walgreens also has an Eckerds and vice versa.

 

[JayCT]

Our small New England town had one small CVS and several smaller independent pharmacies. There was a second small CVS 1/2 mile up the road, just over the line in the next town. Over the years the small stores disappeared. In the last three years, they built a big new CVS in our town, built a big new CVS just over the line in the next town and purchased the last independent. So within a couple of miles there are three CVS's.

What I dislike most about CVS is that the new store they built in our town is beautiful on the outside (thanks to our strict zoning commission) but it so ugly on the inside. In designing this store, they took their standard ugly box and tacked on some interesting bump outs and additions, so on the outside it looks pretty nice, but inside it is the same as every other store. They have a useless front lobby and the dormers are fake. This is what drives me crazy about corporations, they never want to alter their standard box. And they wonder why people critize them.