CVS Buys 20-Store Chain in Ohio
Most Ritzman Pharmacy stores will be shuttered.
Ohio-based Ritzman Pharmacies will sell its 20 stores to CVS in an undisclosed deal that is expected to be completed in February. CVS will continue to operate two of the stores with existing staff.
The chain’s other 18 stories will close, and patients will be transitioned to CVS locations in the area. CVS is expected to interview Ritzman employees from the shuttered stores who are interested in joining the CVS, according to a Ritzman statement.
“This has been a lengthy process for Ritzman Pharmacy,” said Eric Graf, President and CEO of Ritzman, “including engaging the investment community, local and national chains, as well as private equity. We have worked hard to sustain the independently operated community pharmacy model and are disappointed to bring it to a close, but it is time to pass our retail business to a company with more resources.”
Ritzman was founded in 1950 and will retain a management company, VAR, which provides mail-order services for a home healthcare program through Summa Health, a nonprofit integrated healthcare delivery system that serves the Akron area.
