verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . october 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message eckerd corporation fate partially sold to cvs in 2004 acquired by rite aid in 2007 founded 1898 defunct 2007 acquired and sold headquarters largo florida warwick rhode island products pharmacy cosmetics health and beauty aids general merchandise snacks 1 hour photo parent rite aid website eckerd.com eckerd corporation was an american drug store chain that was headquartered in largo florida 1 and toward the end of its life in warwick rhode island . 2 the chain had approximately 2 800 stores in 23 states as far west as arizona . in 2004 it was the fourth largest drug chain in the u.s. in april 2004 the company then a subsidiary of j. c. penney was broken up in a 4.52 billion deal with approximately 1269 stores in florida louisiana and texas along with eckerd s 1.3 billion mail order pharmacy sold to cvs corporation now cvs health . 3 4 the deal enabled cvs to leapfrog past rival walgreens with some 5 400 stores . 4 because cvs already owned 74 stores in florida at the time including 19 in the tampa bay area many duplicate locations were closed . the remaining stores were sold to the quebec based jean coutu group and merged with its brooks pharmacy chain . the eckerd name and corporate headquarters which housed 1 000 administrative workers at the time in largo florida would remain temporarily intact while under the coutu ownership . the sale erased the chain s name among its 622 florida stores where it had been synonymous with the pharmacy business since jack eckerd bought three old drugstores in the tampa bay area in 1952 . 5 brooks eckerd jean coutu s u.s. operations would eventually be sold to rite aid . in return a stake in rite aid was ceded to the french canadian company . the remaining eckerd locations became rite aids . 6 contents 1 history 1.1 j.c. penney and jean coutu 1.2 cvs conversions 1.3 brooks eckerd pharmacy 1.4 acquisition by rite aid 2 slogans 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit eckerd was founded in september 1898 making it the oldest of the big four drugstore chains by 27 year old j. milton eckerd and z. tatom in erie pennsylvania . in the company s early years it operated at 1105 state street in downtown erie as the erie cut rate medicine store . in 1912 eckerd and tatom sold their original store to eckerd s sons and moved to wilmington delaware establishing a new store . from delaware the chain expanded to north carolina and later florida . 7 jack eckerd son of the founder was responsible for the expansion of the company when he acquired three stores in florida in 1952 . in 1960 four african american students from allen university staged a sit in at the columbia south carolina store s whites only lunch counter . in bouie v. city of columbia the u.s. supreme court reversed their trespassing convictions . 8 in 1961 eckerd changed from a proprietorship to a publicly owned company . at the height of eckerd s success it had over 2 800 stores in more than 20 states including 1 600 stores with eckerd express photo one hour photo labs in 19 states and revenue of 13.1 billion in fiscal year 2000 . between 1968 and 1985 eckerd owned eckerd s apparel and j. byrons department stores as well as videoconcepts a chain of mall based electronics shops . j. byrons and videoconcepts were sold off in 1985 the latter to tandy corporation . 9 j.c. penney and jean coutu edit j.c. penney and eckerd agreed to merge in 1996 and the merger took place in 1997 . penney paid 3.3 billion and assumed 1 billion in debt to acquire eckerd and combine it with its 800 store thrift drug chain . under the agreement all of j.c. penney s thrift drug unit of drug stores comprising thrift drug kerr drugs fay s drugs and some rite aid stores were rebranded to the larger eckerd name . this marked eckerd s re entry into the pennsylvania market . many thrift drug stores were remodeled to eckerd s look having their light fixtures replaced . in turn j.c. penney catalog centers like thrift drug long had were added to eckerd stores . j.c. penney also bought more than 500 more stores from four other chains in new york state virginia and the carolinas such as the 1998 acquisition of the 141 store genovese chain in the new york metropolitan area . 10 these stores were renamed in 2003 . 11 during this period eckerd became the second largest drug store chains in the u.s. with over 2 800 stores stretching from new york and connecticut to florida and west to arizona . one carryover from the thrift drug days after the merger took over was the presence of j.c. penney catalog centers inside certain locations which enabled eckerd customers to order merchandise from store catalogs and pick it up at an eckerd location . over the next seven years j.c. penney came to see eckerd as a distraction which would cost too much to continue fixing and in march 2004 it formally declared that it would carry eckerd on its books as a discontinued asset . j.c. penney took a 1.3 billion charge against earnings in connection with selling the drugstore chain which had accounted for 45 percent of its annual revenues . in july 2004 j.c. penney sold all of the eckerd stores along the eastern seaboard from alabama to connecticut to jean coutu and merged with coutu s other american pharmacy chain brooks pharmacy . the other stores mainly in the southeastern and southwestern united states were sold to cvs . after the sale eckerd continued to accept j.c. penney charge cards and operate the catalog centers in certain locations . cvs conversions edit a cvs pharmacy in southside place texas that was formerly an eckerd cvs bought more than 1 200 eckerd stores and converted most of them to cvs pharmacies in late 2004 and 2005 eliminating the eckerd name from markets such as florida texas oklahoma louisiana and mississippi which had once been among the chain s strongholds . even a few brand new locations in texas and arizona were transformed into cvs almost as quickly as they were built as eckerd stores . citation needed the cvs purchase also included the eckerd stores located in colorado ; however cvs opted to close these stores . 12 at one point customers were able to pay for their purchases at cvs with their j.c. penney credit card . brooks eckerd pharmacy edit former eckerd in upstate new york that is a rite aid store today brooks eckerd pharmacy was created when jean coutu purchased eckerd from j.c. penney and merged it with brooks . eckerd s corporate headquarters was transferred from florida to rhode island the base of brooks pharmacy . the eckerd and brooks chains shared many of the same corporate functions . jean coutu operated the stores it purchased under the slightly modified eckerd pharmacy name and logo featuring a red eckerd capsule in an attempt to unify the eckerd and brooks chains . acquisition by rite aid edit an eckerd pharmacy on august 4th 2007 located in rochester pennsylvania built on the site of the childhood home of pop singer christina aguilera . the store officially converted to rite aid on august 31st 2007 . on august 23 2006 the wall street journal announced that rite aid would acquire 1 858 eckerd pharmacy and brooks pharmacy stores from jean coutu for us 3.4 billion . the deal closed on june 4 2007 . rite aid announced that the two chains would be converted to the rite aid name retiring the 109 year old eckerd banner . the merger was signed and completed as of june 4 2007 with all remaining eckerd stores converted to rite aid by the end of september 2007 . the conversion process consisted of two steps new computer systems and a full ppr paint powder re set which consisted of new signage and a new design scheme . many of the stores received new paint on their exteriors making them look more like brick than the white stucco design of most eckerd locations . eckerd s remaining jcpenney catalog centers were closed in favor of rite aid choosing to accept jcpenney charge cards chainwide . slogans edit you ll like what we ll do for you america s family drugstore it s right at eckerd that s the reason there s eckerd because america can t wait right there with you 1998 2001 get more 2001 2007 see also edit florida portal rhode island portal companies portal thrift drug references edit eckerd offers you advantages and opportunities unique in our industry . eckerd . february 3 1997 . retrieved on june 19 2010 . eckerd corporation 8333 bryan dairy rd. largo florida 34647 contacting us . eckerd . retrieved on june 19 2010 . mail 50 service ave. warwick ri 02886 . cvs corporation to acquire 1 260 eckerd stores and pbm mail order pharmacy business in 2.15 billion transaction cvs caremark . info.cvscaremark.com . retrieved 2012 06 13 . a b business buyout of eckerd is official . sptimes.com . retrieved 2012 06 13 . business deal has 2 firms splitting eckerd . sptimes.com . retrieved 2012 06 13 . eckerd is now rite aid . rite aid . retrieved on june 19 2010 . eric ruth 2006 08 25 . del . fixture eckerd acquired . delaware news journal . archived from the original on september 30 2007 . retrieved 2006 08 26 . webster mckenzie . the warren court s struggle with the sit in cases and the constitutionality of segregation in places of public accommodations . journal of law and politics . 17 spring 2001 373 407 . history of eckerd corporation fundinguniverse . www.fundinguniverse.com . retrieved 2016 07 31 . terry pristin november 25 1998 . j.c. penney to buy genovese expanding its drugstore chain . the new york times . retrieved december 23 2009 . matt donnelly july 16 2003 . genovese drug stores take on eckerd name . newsday . retrieved december 23 2009 . business cvs backs out of eckerd s colorado expansion plans . sptimes.com . 2004 04 12 . retrieved 2009 07 24 . external links edit eckerd pharmacy archive eckerd corp history deal has 2 firms splitting eckerd v t e j. c. penney divisions the treasury 1962 1981 thrift drug 1968 1997 eckerd 1997 2004 people ron johnson james cash penney mike ullman buildings j. c. penney building anchorage alaska j. c. penney building newberg oregon j. c. penney building st. louis missouri j. c. penney building shoshone idaho j. c. penney building tucson arizona j. c. penney historic district j. c. penney house v t e cvs health subsidiaries cvs pharmacy cvs caremark minuteclinic longs drugs navarro discount pharmacies omnicare predecessors arbor drugs big b drugs eckerd hook s drug stores osco drug peoples drug revco sav on drugs standard drug company target pharmacy key people ward melville related cvs charity classic cvs health charity classic cvs pharmacy lpga challenge melville corporation v t e rite aid predecessors adams drug company brooks pharmacy eckerd fay s drug genovese drug stores gray drug k & b lane drug pay n save payless perry drug stores thrift drug thrifty retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title eckerd corporation & oldid 740711706 categories defunct pharmacies of the united statescompanies established in 1898companies disestablished in 2007companies based in rhode islanddefunct companies based in rhode islandhidden categories articles needing additional references from october 2008all articles needing