Drug Fair

Drug Fair
Company type	Private company
Industry	Pharmacy retail
Founded	1954
Defunct	2009
Fate	Purchased
Successor	Walgreens
Headquarters	Somerset, New Jersey
Key people	Tim LeBeau, CEO
Number of employees	1700
Parent	Sun Capital Partners
Subsidiaries	Cost Cutters

File:Cost Cutters.jpg

Alongside its primary brand, Drug Fair managed the Cost Cutters chain, a discount drug and general merchandise retailer. This particular outlet operated in a former Centennial-designed A&P store located in Norwood, New Jersey.

Drug Fair was a New Jersey-based pharmacy retail chain.

History

Established in 1954, the company maintained its main office in Somerset, New Jersey. Besides the Drug Fair stores, the company also ran Cost Cutters, a discount chain offering pharmaceuticals and general goods. During the 2000s, Drug Fair launched a discount program known as "We Care," which doubled as the company's motto. This card was accepted at both Drug Fair and Cost Cutters locations, featuring branding from both chains.

In 2005, private equity firm Sun Capital Partners acquired Drug Fair.

By mid-2008, Drug Fair operated around 50 stores, while Cost Cutters maintained an additional eleven outlets.

In March 2009, two Drug Fair stores in Raritan and Rockaway, New Jersey unexpectedly ceased operations. Shortly thereafter, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Prior to this filing, Drug Fair announced it would sell thirty-two of its drugstores to Walgreens. Walgreens also acquired prescription records from several other locations. Following this transaction, Drug Fair declared plans to promptly liquidate and close stores in Bridgewater, North Arlington, and East Rutherford, New Jersey, as well as one of its two sites in Clifton, New Jersey. Subsequently, an additional ten Drug Fair outlets along with nine Cost Cutters stores were slated for closure. Liquidation sales commenced immediately, with these stores shutting down by May 2009. Many of the vacated leases were taken over by Dollar General, which reopened those locations under its own branding.

The acquisition was completed on May 16, 2009, after which the remaining Drug Fair stores were rebranded as Walgreens.

On March 18, 2013, Oak Point Partners, a private investment firm, purchased any remaining assets—both known and unknown—that had not been previously administered from the bankruptcy estates of Drug Fair Group, Inc., et al.

Original Drug Fair store locations

References