History
Alex Grass founded the Rite Aid chain in Scranton, Pennsylvania in September 1962. The first store was called Thrif D Discount Center, a health and beauty aids store, without a pharmacy. It was an offshoot of Rack Rite Distributors a subsidiary of his father-in law’s Lehrman & Sons which Alex Grass launched in 1958, that rented and stocked racks with health and beauty aids in grocery stores. In 1965 their 23rd store added a pharmacy and the company name was changed to Rite Aid. Through acquisitions and new stores, Rite Aid quickly expanded into 5 northeast states by 1965. The chain was officially named Rite Aid Corporation in 1968 and made its debut on the American Stock Exchange. It moved to the New York Stock Exchange in 1970. In 2011, Rite Aid was ranked #100 on Fortune 500 Largest U.S. Corporations.
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