Rite Aid Corp. - Specimen Stock Certificate

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Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. It is the third-largest drugstore chain in the United States, with over 2,000 stores, and ranked No. 148 in the Fortune 500 in 2022. After several years of growth, Rite Aid adopted its current name and debuted as a public company in 1968. Rite Aid was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RAD. In October 2023, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, due to a large debt load and thousands of lawsuits alleging involvement in the opioid crisis.

Alex Grass founded the Rite Aid chain in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in September 1962, after marrying into Harrisburg Pennsylvania's Lehrman family in the early 1950s. The first store was called Thrift D Discount Center.[15] The store expanded into five additional states in 1965 and went public as Rite Aid in 1968. It moved to the New York Stock Exchange in 1970. Ten years after its first store opened, Rite Aid operated 267 locations in 10 states. In 1981, Rite Aid became the third-largest retail drugstore chain in the country. 1983 marked a sales milestone of $1 billion. A 420-store acquisition along the east coast expanded Rite Aid's holdings beyond 2,000 locations. A large number of acquisitions brought the chain to the state of Michigan in 1984. These were of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Muir Drug and Remes Drug, along with Lippert Pharmacy of Lowell and Herrlich Drug of Flint; one year later, Rite Aid opened stores in Lansing, Michigan through the acquisition of State Vitamin. Expansion into Ohio began in 1987 through the acquisition of Cleveland-based Gray Drug. Among the companies acquired was Baltimore, Maryland's Read's Drug Store. On April 10, 1989, Peoples Drug's 114 unit Lane Drug of Ohio was purchased by Rite Aid. Rite Aid acquired twenty-four Hook's Drug Stores stores in 1994, selling nine of those stores to Perry Drug Stores, a Michigan-based pharmacy chain. One year later, Rite Aid acquired Perry, entering Metro Detroit for the first time, and expanding its presence in Michigan even further. In 1996, Rite Aid acquired Thrifty PayLess, a 1,000-store West Coast chain. The acquisition of Thrifty PayLess included the Northwest-based Bi-Mart membership discount stores, which was sold off in 1998. Acquisitions of Harco, Inc. and K&B, Inc. brought Rite Aid into the Gulf Coast area. In the 1990s, Rite Aid partnered with Carl Paladino's Ellicott Development Co. to expand the company's presence in upstate New York. In the late 1990s, Rite Aid performed poorly, and its stock dropped precipitously from $30 to $4.40. At this time, Mary Sammons, of Fred Meyer, was tapped by Leonard Green, of Leonard Green & Partners to become President/COO. She went on to become CEO in 2003. In July 2001, Rite Aid agreed to improve its pharmacy complaint process by implementing a new program to respond to consumer complaints. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rite_Aid

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