Grocery chain Albertsons is looking to buy a major part of Rite Aid pharmacies in the latest bid to compete with online giant Amazon. And Wall Street Journal reporter Heather Haddon says the deal could benefit both companies and consumers. “Pharmacy customers are much more loyal and spend a lot more than the typical grocery store customer,” she said. “So when someone is coming in to fill their pharmacy script, they have to do it on a regular basis, and while they’re doing that, they can buy groceries...On the flip side, for Rite Aid, they’re going to see much better food selection in their stores.” The proposed deal includes the Rite Aid stores that were not acquired by Walgreens in 2015. That means Albertsons would operate 4,900 locations, 4,350 pharmacies, and 320 clinics across 38 states. While the purchase price was undisclosed, the combined company would be worth $24 billion. Whether that’s enough to compete with Amazon remains to be seen. “I think that the customer experience needs to be a bit more than just, ‘Oh, I just go to the pharmacy’, or ‘Oh, I just go to the grocery store,’” said David Grasso, business editor at Bold Media. “We want everything in one. Amazon has brought everything to us and we do want our retailers, if we do happen to walk into a brick and mortar store, to do exactly the same.” For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/what-albertsons-purchase-of-rite-aid-means-for-drug-retail).

Share:
More In Business
Load More