RETAIL ROUNDUP 1994-01-10

Thrifty to Acquire PayLess

Drug Stores here is set to buy the Wilsonville, Ore.-based PayLess Drug Stores chain from Kmart, Troy, Mich., for $1 billion in cash and securities. The combination of 572-store PayLess and Thrifty, with 494 stores, would create the second-largest drug store chain after Walgreen's. Combined sales of the two chains in 1992 totaled $5.9 billion. Thrifty is controlled by Leonard Green & Partners, an investment firm.

Stop & Shop Adds Superstores

BOSTON -- Stop & Shop opened its 69th and 70th supermarkets with pharmacies on Dec. 3. The new superstores are in Dorchester and North Attleboro, Mass.

Smith's Opens 131st Unit

SALT LAKE CITY -- Smith's Food & Drug Centers here has opened its 131st in-store pharmacy in Mission Viejo, Calif. A California newspaper ad announcing the store's grand opening offered a coupon good for 100 alcohol swabs at 99 cents, and Accu-Chek III and Accu-Chek Easy blood glucose monitors "free," after a manufacturer mail-in rebate and a trade-in of another monitor.

Rosauers Opens 15th Unit

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Rosauers Supermarkets here opened its 15th in-store pharmacy in Lewiston, Idaho. The pharmacy is in the front left corner, near the main entrance.

Red Food Advertises Generics

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Red Food Stores here promoted availability of generic drugs in its 33 pharmacies in a recent newspaper ad. "Generic prescriptions, Save up to 50%," read the ad, which also included a specific price comparison between Inderal 80-milligram LA (long-acting) 100s at $70.99, and generic propranolol HCl 80-milligram LA 100s at $51.99.