Rexall Drug
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Rexall was a chain of American
drugstores 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 ...
, and the name of their store-branded products. The stores, having roots in the federation of United Drug Stores starting in 1903, licensed the Rexall brand name to as many as 12,000 drug stores across the United States from 1920 to 1977. The "Rex" in the name was derived from the name of Ellen M. Regis, who developed "Rexall remedies" and from whom the company purchased the mark.


Founding

In 1903,
Louis K. Liggett Louis Kroh Liggett (April 4, 1875 – June 5, 1946) was an American drug store magnate who founded L.K. Liggett Drug Company and then Rexall. He was later chairman of United Drug Company. He was a member of the Republican National Committee ...
persuaded 40 independent drug stores to invest $4,000 in a
retailers' cooperative A retailers' cooperative is a type of cooperative which employs economies of scale on behalf of its retailer members. Retailers' cooperatives use their purchasing power to acquire discounts from manufacturers and often share marketing expenses. A r ...
called United Drug Stores, which sold products under the Rexall name. After
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the cooperative established a
franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
arrangement whereby independently owned retail outlets adopted the Rexall trade name and sold Rexall products. The company was based in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, in an area now occupied by
Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...
.


Rexall Train

The Rexall Train of March to November 1936 toured the United States and Canada to promote Rexall drug store products and to provide the equivalent of a national convention for local Rexall druggists without the cost of travel. Free tickets for locals to see displays of Rexall products were available at local Rexall drug stores. The 29,000 mile tour visited 47 of the 48 contiguous states (omitting Nevada) and parts of Canada. A
streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...
steam-powered
4-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This type of steam locomotive is commonly known as t ...
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...
locomotive (No. 2873) from the
New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
hauled the similarly streamlined blue-and-white train of twelve air-conditioned Pullman cars. Four of the cars contained displays, four contained convention facilities and one housed a
dining car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that ...
. The train was the million-dollar brainchild of Louis Liggett, who traveled in an
observation car An observation car/carriage/coach (in US English, often abbreviated to simply observation or obs) is a type of railroad passenger car, generally operated in a passenger train as the rearmost carriage, with windows or a platform on the rear of th ...
at its rear.


Growth

Justin Whitlock Dart, formerly of the
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 ...
drugstore chain, took control of Boston-based United Drug Company in 1943. The chain operated under the Liggett,
Owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
, Sonta, and Rexall brands, which Dart rebranded under the Rexall name. Rexall gained national exposure through its sponsorship of two famous classic American radio programs of the 1940s and 1950s: ''
Amos and Andy ''Amos 'n' Andy'' is an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago and later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio show ...
'' and ''
The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show ''The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show'', was a comedy radio program which ran on NBC from 1948 to 1954 starring Alice Faye and Phil Harris. Harris had previously become known to radio audiences as the band-leader-turned-cast-member of the same name ...
''. Both shows were often opened by an advertisement from an actor (
Griff Barnett Griff Barnett (born Manley Griffith, November 12, 1884 – January 12, 1958) was an American actor.(17 January 1958) ''The New York Times'' Barnett was born in Blue Ridge, Texas in 1884. In the early 20th century, Barnett was a member of the ...
) portraying "your Rexall family druggist", and included the catch phrase "Good health to all from Rexall." They also sponsored the ''
Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...
Show'' and references are made by the character Mr. Peavey in some of ''
The Great Gildersleeve ''The Great Gildersleeve'' is a radio situation comedy broadcast in the United States from August 31, 1941 to 1958. Initially written by Leonard Lewis Levinson, it was one of broadcast history's earliest spin-off programs. The series was built a ...
'' radio shows. Rexall also sponsored ''
Richard Diamond, Private Detective ''Richard Diamond, Private Detective'' is an American detective drama, created by Blake Edwards, which aired on radio from 1949 to 1953, and on television from 1957 to 1960. Radio Dick Powell starred in the ''Richard Diamond, Private Detec ...
'' starring
Dick Powell Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility, and successfully transformed into ...
from April 1950 until Camel replaced Rexall as the sponsor after the December 6, 1950, broadcast. In 1946, United-Rexall Drug Inc. purchased the Renfro chain in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, and Lane Drug Stores which had 58 stores throughout the
Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
. It also launched the Owl Superstores chain. In 1947, the company held a gala opening for their new headquarters and first store in Los Angeles, California. The new Hollywood Owl was reported in ''Life'' as 'the World's Biggest Drugstore'. In 1958, the Rexall Drug Company was the largest U.S. drug store franchise, with 11,158 stores (for comparison, fewer than 12,000 McDonald's restaurants are in the U.S. today). ''Time'' noted that two-thirds of its stores were in areas where one-third of the population lived. However, this comprised more than 20% of all drug stores in the United States. Also in 1958, Rexall employee
Joe Coulombe Joseph Hardin Coulombe (June 3, 1930 – February 28, 2020) was an American entrepreneur. He founded the grocery store chain Trader Joe's in 1967 and ran it until his retirement in 1988.
was asked to test the launch of Pronto Markets, a store brand to compete against
7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...
. After running six Pronto Markets in the Los Angeles area, Rexall asked Coulombe to close them down. Coulombe decided to buy them out instead, and eventually renamed the chain "
Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American chain of grocery stores headquartered in Monrovia, California. The chain has over 569 stores across the United States. The first Trader Joe's store was opened in 1967 by founder Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, California ...
". Dart sold his stake in Rexall in 1978. Dart had acquired stakes in West Bend,
Duracell Duracell Inc. is an American manufacturer of alkaline batteries, specialty cells, rechargeables and smart power systems, owned by Berkshire Hathaway. The company has its origins in the 1920s, through the work of Samuel Ruben and Philip Mallory, ...
,
Hobart Corporation The Hobart Corporation is an American mid-market provider of commercial grocery and foodservice equipment. The company manufactures food preparation machines for cutting, slicing and mixing, cooking equipment, refrigeration units, warewashing ...
,
Tupperware Tupperware is an American home products line that includes preparation, storage, and serving products for the kitchen and home. In 1942, Earl Tupper developed his first bell-shaped container; the brand products were introduced to the public in 1 ...
, Ralph Wilson Plastics, and
Archer Glass Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...
, which were collectively known as
Dart Industries Justin Whitlock Dart Sr. (August 17, 1907 – January 26, 1984) was an American businessman, considered the "boy wonder" of the drug store industry. In college Dart had played football for Northwestern University. Biography He was born on ...
.


Decline

By the late 1950s, Rexall's business model of unitary franchised stores, with each store owned independently by the local pharmacist, was already coming under attack by the discount chains, such as
Thrifty Drug Thrifty PayLess Holdings, Inc. was a pharmacy holding company that owned the Thrifty Drugs and PayLess Drug Stores chains in the western United States. The combined company was formed in April 1994 when Los Angeles-based TCH Corporation, the p ...
and Eckerd. These well-financed corporate entities were able to reduce costs with block purchasing, and were focused on growth. By 1977, the value of the Rexall business had deteriorated to the point that it was sold to private investors for $16 million. The investors divested the company-owned stores, though existing franchise retailers were able to keep the Rexall name. These tended to be weaker stores, and few kept the name as time progressed. The company continued to distribute vitamins, health foods, and plastic items. Across the US, some franchise retailers continue to use the Rexall name.


Rexall-Sundown

Sundown, a maker of
sunscreen Sunscreen, also known as sunblock or sun cream, is a photoprotective topical product for the skin that mainly absorbs, or to a much lesser extent reflects, some of the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation and thus helps protect against sunburn and ...
s, acquired the Rexall trademark in 1985, in a hostile takeover, and continued to produce
nutritional supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement one's diet by taking a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extracted from food sources or that are synthetic in order ...
s and remedies under the new name Rexall-Sundown, with no relationship to the remaining chain of Rexall drugstores, nor to the Canadian maker of medicines and sundries.
Numico Nutricia is a Danone brand that specialises in therapeutic food and infant formula, including medical nutrition for babies with specific needs. The former company, N.V. Nutricia., was established in The Netherlands by brothers Jan and Martinus v ...
acquired Rexall Sundown in 2000. Numico split up the Rexall divisions and divested them in 2003, selling the name Rexall-Sundown to
NBTY The Bountiful Company is an American dietary supplements company. It is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, which has agreed to sell most of the company's brands to Nestlé during 2021. It was original known as Nature's Bounty, Inc. but changed i ...
, a US vitamin company, and the
Unicity Network The amalgamation of Winnipeg, Manitoba, was the Municipal corporation, municipal incorporation of the old Winnipeg, City of Winnipeg, 11 surrounding municipality, municipalities, and the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg (Metro) into a ...
division was to be sold to Activated Holdings, a privately held company. The deal fell through, and Unicity Network was sold to its management.


Dollar General and Rexall

In March 2010,
Dollar General Dollar General Corporation is an American chain of variety stores headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. As of April 11, 2022, Dollar General operates 18,216 stores in the continental United States. The company began in 1939 as a family-own ...
licensed the Rexall name from healthcare giant McKesson Corporation, and announced that it would be the exclusive retailer for Rexall-branded products. Rexall products are in several of the retailer's categories, including over-the-counter medication, dental care, vitamins and supplements, foot care, and first aid.


See also

*
Dockum Drug Store sit-in The Dockum Drug Store sit-in was one of the first organized lunch counter sit-ins for the purpose of integrating segregated establishments in the United States. The protest began on July 19, 1958 in downtown Wichita, Kansas, at a Dockum Drug Sto ...
*
Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American chain of grocery stores headquartered in Monrovia, California. The chain has over 569 stores across the United States. The first Trader Joe's store was opened in 1967 by founder Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, California ...
, originated as a spin-off concept owned by Rexall


References


Further reading

* ''The Rexall Story: A History of Genius and Neglect'' by Mickey C. Smith


External links

{{Commons category, Rexall
rexall.com











Meditrust Pharmacy
* Th

are located in the Northeastern University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Department, Boston, MA.

American companies established in 1903 Retail companies established in 1903 Defunct pharmacies of the United States Franchises Retailers' cooperatives in the United States Companies based in Boston Defunct companies based in Massachusetts Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Health care companies based in Massachusetts Dollar General