Cunningham Drug (U.S.)

Cunningham Drug

Company type	Private
Industry	Pharmacy
Founded	October 1889 (1889-10)
Founder	Andrew Cunningham
Defunct	1982 (Michigan outlets), 1991 (final Florida locations)
Fate	Michigan stores rebranded as Apex Drug and sold to Perry Drug Stores; final Florida stores sold to Walgreens
Headquarters	Detroit , United States
Area served	Michigan, Florida, and other states in the US
Key people	Andrew Cunningham (founder), Nate Shapero (leader after 1931 merger)
Products	Pharmacy services, drugstores

Cunningham Drug was a pharmacy chain headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Established in October 1889 by Andrew Cunningham, the company primarily served the Michigan market and at one point was the state's largest drugstore chain. In 1982, its Michigan outlets were closed and subsequently reopened under the Apex Drug name before being sold to Perry Drug Stores. The final Cunningham Drug locations persisted in Florida until 1991, when they were acquired by Walgreens.

History

File:Formerperry.jpg

A former Cunningham Drug store (later Perry Drug and then Rite Aid) located in Oscoda, Michigan. Since this photo was taken, the space has been repurposed by Goodwill Industries.

The inaugural Cunningham drugstore was launched in Detroit by Andrew Cunningham in October 1889. In 1931, Economical Drug, a 50-store chain also based in Detroit, merged with Cunningham, which at that time operated thirteen stores. Nate Shapero, owner of Economical Drug, took over leadership of Cunningham following the merger. In 1940, Cunningham announced plans to merge with Cleveland-based Marshall Drug Co.

During 1958 and 1959, Cunningham revealed mergers with two additional chains: Broward Drug from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Detroit’s Kinsel Drug Co. These consolidations propelled Cunningham to become Michigan’s largest drugstore chain and expanded its presence into multiple states. The United States Department of Justice challenged the Kinsel acquisition on grounds of violating the Clayton Antitrust Act, but this effort was abandoned in 1963.

In 1964, Cunningham extended its footprint in Florida by acquiring fourteen stores from Whelan Drug. Later on, twenty-eight Florida locations were sold to Ohio-based Gray Drug. Some smaller Cunningham outlets operated under the Schettler's brand within prominent hotels such as Detroit’s Sheraton-Cadillac and upscale retail centers like Somerset Mall in Troy, Michigan. During the 1960s, a limited number of stores were rebranded as Dot Discount—a concept that continued for several decades despite not expanding widely.

In 1982, twenty-eight Michigan stores were sold to a private entity and rebranded as Apex Drug. Three years afterward, most Apex locations were acquired by Perry Drug Stores, another Detroit-area retailer. The remaining Cunningham outlets were gradually divested or closed; by late 1991, the last five stores operating in the Fort Lauderdale region of Florida were sold to Walgreens.