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This year, Frank Newman, Eckerd's chairman and chief executive officer, is continuing his best-of-- breed approach-one that was established in 1997 to fuel Eckerd's merger into J.C. Penney's Thrift drug division, which had just acquired Fay's Drug and several Rite Aid stores. It's a strategy that selects the best offerings from the different parts of business to integrate into the larger business. Newman, along with his executive team, will rely on this philosophy as they integrate successfully Eckerd's most recent conquest, the March 1 acquisition of Genovese Drug Stores, a deal that stands to strengthen Eckerd's position in the Northeast by 141 units.
"We will take a best-of-- breed approach [with Genovese] just as we did with Thrift and Fay's. We will combine the best of Genovese-local tailored programs and services-with the best of Eckerd-pharmacy systems, food mart, express photo and promotions-to establish a new standard of excellence in the market," Newman said.
The acquisition served as an alternative to organic growth in the region and knits together Eckerd's stores in northern New Jersey and upstate, western and central New York with Genovese units in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Of Eckerd's resulting 923 units in the Northeast, 372 units are in New York and 166 are in New Jersey.
Eckerd's seasoned transition team will be dedicated to making Genovese stores compatible to Eckerd, first by weaving operation systems together, next by bringing merchandise to compatible levels and finally by marketing the finished product. Building sales momentum after the integration will begin with revamps to the frontend and increasing free-standing store locations.
"We will add strong promotional and photofinishing programs and food mart to the stores, which will drive front-end sales even higher than they are today. As opportunities arise, we will also relocate strip center stores to free-standing locations, as well as look for new store locations," Newman said.
Heading up the Genovese business is Allan Patrick, vice president and general manager of the New York metro region. Patrick joins Eckerd from Genovese, where he served in the same capacity. Newman noted that other Genovese employees are being considered to join the Eckerd team.
"We are interviewing...