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Rite Aid Bullish on Save-A-Lot Combos

A test of co-branded Rite Aid drug and Save-A-Lot discount grocery stores in South Carolina has been “very encouraging,” and prompted the parties to explore an expansion, officials of the drug retailer said.

Jon Springer, Executive Editor

December 17, 2010

1 Min Read
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JON SPRINGER

CAMP HILL, Pa. — A test of co-branded Rite Aid drug and Save-A-Lot discount grocery stores in South Carolina has been “very encouraging,” and prompted the parties to explore an expansion, officials of the drug retailer here said.

"The stores have done extremely well since opening and as a group are comping up over 100% on the front end with pharmacy running consistent with the trends before the conversion,” John Standley, Rite Aid’s chief executive officer, said in a conference call discussing the retailer’s quarterly financial results Thursday. “Feedback from our Rite Aid customers has been extremely positive, and adding Save-A-Lot to these stores has attracted many new customers.”

Rite Aid and Save-A-Lot opened the co-branded stores this fall at 10 locations in Greenville, S.C. Standley added that he was in discussions with Supervalu, Save-A-Lot’s Minneapolis-based parent, about potentially expanding the concept to other locations.

“It’s exciting to take a store that was a low-volume store that was doing $20,000 a week on the front-end and make it do $60,000 or $70,000,” he said. “That’s a pretty good answer for us and we have some real estate that fits this demographic very nicely.”

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About the Author

Jon Springer

Executive Editor

Jon Springer is executive editor of Winsight Grocery Business with responsibility for leading its digital news team. Jon has more than 20 years of experience covering consumer business and retail in New York, including more than 14 years at the Retail/Financial desk at Supermarket News. His previous experience includes covering consumer markets for KPMG’s Insiders; the U.S. beverage industry for Beverage Spectrum; and he was a Senior Editor covering commercial real estate and retail for the International Council of Shopping Centers. Jon began his career as a sports reporter and features editor for the Cecil Whig, a daily newspaper in Elkton, Md. Jon is also the author of two books on baseball. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English-Journalism from the University of Delaware. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. with his family.

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