4 Ways You’ll Win With the New Albertsons and Rite Aid Merger
Albertsons Companies and Rite Aid Corporation JUST announced a merger agreement Tuesday.
The merger seeks to buy the remaining 2,500 plus Rite Aid pharmacies not being sold to Walgreens Boots Alliance in an effort to extend the Rite Aid brand in grocery stores across the country.
What this means for you:
1. The Rite Aid pharmacy brand will now extend into Albertsons grocery stores.
You’ll now be able visit a Rite Aid pharmacy at most Albertsons affiliates, including Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, Tom Thumb, Haggen, Randalls, Star Market, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, and Carrs. The only caveat? According to Forbes, where Jewel-Osco has a stronger brand, the stores will not be rebranded as Rite Aid.
2. Shoppers can still visit their favorite locations.
The integrated company will operate at roughly 4,350 pharmacy counters and 320 clinics across 38 states and Washington, D.C. There have been no talks of store closures, so if you have a Rite Aid near you, you can expect to still shop there.
3. Loyalty programs will become streamlined across the brands.
Both Albertsons and Rite-Aid offer loyalty programs. These loyalty programs will simplify and work cross-brand to enhance shopping for millions of active loyalty program participants.
4. RediClinics will be coming soon to a store near you.
The combined company has plans to offer in-store RediClinics in larger Albertsons Companies locations and stand-alone Rite Aids. So you can get seen by a doctor and pick up your prescriptions all in one place!
Speaking to the merger between the two retail giants, Bob Miller, Albertsons Companies Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, says that combining “with Rite Aid will enable us to serve the valuable pharmacy customer by providing a fully integrated one-stop-shop for our customers.”
What do you think of this merger? Shout us out below!
I still have rite aid gift card, should I use them all right now?
Used up ours just in case…ymmv
So Rite Aid is not in the Dallas area now. Does this mean the in-store pharmacy in our local Tom Thumb will become a Rite aid somehow?
A cashier at our Safeway said they we’re merging with rite aid. So maybe it’s not al albertons. We don’t have any Albertons here where we live in Oregon.
It says Safeway is an affiliate of Albertsons.
Albertsons actually bought Safeway about 2 years ago…my husband is a CDL driver for Albertsons and they have been buying like crazy trying to compete/stay up with Walmart and Amazon
No Safeway or Albertsons in mi…
This read like a corporate press release, not classic H2S analysis of pros and cons for the savvy shopper.
Hi there! Thanks so much for your feedback! We sure do appreciate it! We do have a new writer here on the Hip2Save Team, so we’ll be sure to pass your comment along. 🙂
My Mom works at Acme. They drastically cut hours the last few weeks probably because of this merger. They work with a skeleton crew, closing deli and bakery early to save money. Customers get mad at the workers because of long wait times because management doesn’t schedule enough workers. She is absolutely miserable working for this company.
There will be Rite Aid closings in Connecticut. The Rite Aid one block from my house will be closing (as stated on teh sign outside their door.)
That is probably a ra that was bought by Walgreens.
Wonder if it will be like CVS in Target is now. I love ra and the plenty rewards. Sad Macy’s is no longer going to be using the plenty anymore too. Guess I better use my rewards.
I have some gift cards Ive never used.When I use some of the amount from the gift card,I can get cash back the rest?
Depends on your state laws and the store policy and how much is left.
Rite Aid is expensive. I hope this merger somehow make their prices more pocket friendly.
Didn’t Rite Aid merge with Walgreens a while back? Or did that fall through?
The pharmacies have been converted to Walgreens Pharmacy. As the Rite Aid stores are remodeled, they will drop Rite Aids name and will be rebranded as Walgreens.
I have Albertson’s, Safeway and Rite Aid all very close to me. I’ll have to see if anything changes.
But the most important question, who gets the ice cream in the deal? Where does the Thrifty Ice Cream Brand fit in in this merger? That’s what we all want to know.
My thoughts exactly! Will Albertsons have a Thrifty’s ice cream counter separate from Starbucks? (For the stores that has Starbucks)
Our Albertsons’ in SoCal currently have SavOn pharmacies inside. The large drugstore retail type selections are VERY overpriced. Even Rite Aid’s retail prices are usually better. Going to be interesting
I’m not so sure about #3: with Rite Aid’s loyalty program being Plenti, and nearly every other Plenti partner jumping ship over the last year, it seems likely Rite Aid will follow suit & fold into the acquiring company’s program
Rite aid has also been going away from Plenti in 2018, giving what they call “bonus cash” instead of plenti points.
What I’m wondering is if there is a list of which rite aids were included in the Walgreens deal and which in the Albertsons deal? None of the stores near me have closed or changed to Walgreens as of yet.