Kerr Drug was an American chain of 76

drug store A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacis ...

s throughout

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. Its headquarters were located in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

. On September 10, 2013,

Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, an ...

announced its purchase of Kerr.

History

The company was founded in Raleigh by Banks Kerr in 1951. The chain was operating 97 stores when it was acquired in 1995 by

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

. In 1996, when JCPenney attempted to purchase

Eckerd Drug Eckerd Corporation was an American drug store chain that was headquartered in Largo, Florida, and toward the end of its life, in Warwick, Rhode Island. The chain had approximately 2,800 stores in 23 states as far west as Arizona. In November 199 ...

, the FTC forced JCPenney to divest itself of 34 former Kerr Drug stores and 130

Rite Aid 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. The company ranked No. 148 in the Fortune 500 lis ...

stores. These stores were ultimately purchased by a group led by former

Thrift Drug Thrift Drug was a U.S. pharmacy chain founded in 1935 and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was purchased by JCPenney in 1968, and was expanded greatly thereafter, serving as the flagship chain of JCPenney's pharmacy group. The cha ...

executives led by Anthony Civello who became Kerr Drug's President & CEO who left the

JC Penney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

organization following the Eckerd acquisitio

In 2013,

purchased the remaining Kerr Drug stores and its distribution center.

References

External links

Kerr Drug Online
Health care companies based in North Carolina Defunct companies based in North Carolina Defunct pharmacies of the United States Companies based in Raleigh, North Carolina Retail companies established in 1951 Retail companies disestablished in 2013 1951 establishments in North Carolina 2013 disestablishments in North Carolina 2013 mergers and acquisitions Walgreens Boots Alliance {{US-retail-company-stub