F.W. ALBRECHT WILL SELL 15 ACME DRUG UNITS TO CVS

CHAPIN CLARK

AKRON, Ohio -- Furthering a commitment to focus on its core grocery business, Fred W. Albrecht Grocery Co. here has announced it will sell its 15 Acme Express drug- and convenience stores to CVS Corp., Woonsocket, R.I., for an undisclosed amount.

Most of the Acme Express units are freestanding, with the pharmacy counter situated at the back of the store. Average size is 10,000 square feet.

Included in the proposed sale, which is expected to close next month, are the stores' inventory and prescription files. Albrecht will continue to operate 12 pharmacies in its Acme supermarkets, said Steve Albrecht, president.

"We look forward to serving our customers within our grocery stores for their pharmacy needs."

The deal is yet another example of the fast-growing dominance of the retail pharmacy scene by large chains like CVS; Rite Aid, Camp Hill, Pa.; and Walgreen Co., Deerfield, Ill. Through aggressive new-store openings and acquisitions, these companies are seeking -- and finding -- regional market-share density that gives them clout in negotiating with the managed-care organizations paying for the vast majority of prescriptions filled.

A few days before the Albrecht sale was made public, CVS announced it had signed an agreement to buy Arbor Drugs, Troy, Mich., for $1.48 billion. Arbor is a 207-store chain with a 45% market share in the metropolitan Detroit area. That deal would make CVS, which is already No. 1 or No. 2 in 80% of the markets in which it operates, the largest drug chain in the country in terms of sales, which are expected to surpass $15 billion in 1998.

"Health care will be practiced locally," said Thomas Ryan, president and chief executive officer of CVS, while addressing the Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Food Retailing Conference in New York the day after the Arbor deal was disclosed. "You need to be a leader in your market."

"The large drug chains are going to be best positioned to deal with managed care," said Martin Glass, chairman and chief executive officer of 3,925-store Rite Aid, in addressing the same audience. He said between 1,700 and 2,000 independent and community pharmacies go out of business each year. Rite Aid, he added, is buying them out at an average rate of six per week.

For some time Albrecht has been concentrating its efforts and resources on its supermarket business. Last January it announced it planned to spend $20 million and three years remodeling its stores to fit a fresh-market concept, downsizing physical plants and eliminating as much as 40% of inventory in some units.