Posted at 11:13 a.m., Friday, April 6, 2007
Longs Drug, Rite Aid to swap six stores on Mainland
Bloomberg News Service
Rite Aid Corp., the third-biggest U.S. drugstore chain, and smaller rival Longs Drug Stores Corp. agreed to swap six stores in the western U.S.Rite Aid will take over six Longs stores in California, Oregon and Washington in exchange for six Nevada stores, the companies said today in separate statements. Rite Aid will also receive prescription files from six other Longs stores.
The six stores Longs is giving up were among 31 sites the company said in February that it planned to close. After the swap is completed, Rite Aid will have 138 stores in Washington, 72 in Oregon, 599 in California and 29 in Nevada.
"These are great stores that will build upon our presence in Washington, Oregon and California," Rite Aid Chief Executive Officer Mary Sammons said in the statement.
Longs operates more than 500 stores on the U.S. West Coast and in Hawaii, Colorado and Nevada, according to its Web site.
Shares of Rite Aid rose 7 cents to $6 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday and have climbed 49 percent in the past 12 months. Shares of Walnut Creek, California-based Longs fell 30 cents to $53.12.
U.S. markets were closed today for Good Friday.
Walgreen Co. is the largest U.S. drugstore chain, and CVS/Caremark Corp. is the second biggest.
