“This June 4, 2014, file photo shows a Walgreens retail store in Boston.
Walgreens confirmed Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, that it will buy rival Rite Aid,
creating a drugstore giant with nearly 18,000 stores around the world.
Photo credit: Charles Krupa, AP Photo

Walgreens Drugstores, Inc. initially looked at the pad adjacent the Yelm Medical Plaza to build a store location here and withdrew, now the Olympia Federal Savings site. With the completion of the Rite-Aid acquisition by Walgreens, Yelm will finally get a location of this quality company at Rite-Aid’s Yelm Ave. E. & Vancil Rd. corner, which recently completed a major renovation.


– “Walgreens to Buy Rite Aid for $9.4 Billion”
“As companies throughout the universe of the health care industry accelerate the pace of consolidation, two of the country’s biggest drugstore chains have agreed to combine to create a new giant.

Walgreens Boots Alliance said on Tuesday [Oct. 27] that it would buy Rite Aid for more than $9.4 billion in cash, significantly bolstering its influence with drug makers and pharmacy benefit managers.

But the combination may draw a skeptical eye from government regulators concerned about the retail pharmacy market effectively shrinking to only a few big chains.

The deal is the latest taking place in the sweeping changes under the Affordable Care Act, which has inspired drug makers, insurers and others to combine,” by Michael J. de la Merced and Hiroko Tabuchicot, The New York Times.
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