Walgreens buys Kerr Drug’s 76 stores

Walgreens has reached agreement with privately held Kerr Drug to acquire its retail drugstores and specialty pharmacy business, which last year had sales of about $381 million.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal will include Kerr’s 76 retail stores and a distribution center. It does not include Kerr’s long-term care pharmacy business.

Walgreens said the Kerr acquisition would help it expand throughout North Carolina, where Kerr is based.

“The Kerr Drug retail drugstores and specialty pharmacy business are an exceptional addition to the Walgreens family of companies,” said Greg Wasson, Walgreens’ president and CEO. “We are closely aligned on the important task of expanding the healthcare role that community pharmacists can have with their patients, and we share the common goal of stepping out of the traditional drugstore format to create a new experience for our customers.”

Anthony Civello, president, CEO, and chairman of Kerr Drug, said the Walgreens deal is a good fit for his company. “Kerr Drug’s strategy and core principles have always been focused on its unique ability to provide patients access to the most comprehensive and convenient health and wellness offering in the industry,” Civello said. “Walgreens is the perfect partner to continue this journey as a patient-oriented company dedicated to expanding the role of the pharmacist as an integral part of health care.”

Kerr Drug will continue to operate separately until federal regulators approve the deal, which is expected to happen later this year. Founded in 1951, Kerr Drug has gained a reputation for innovative community pharmacy. It was among the first chains to offer resource centers within its locations that were staffed with pharmacy doctors and pharmacy students from local colleges.

Kerr pharmacies offered programs for many treatment areas, including diabetes, cholesterol control, osteoporosis, thyroid disease, and smoking cessation. It was also a participant in the groundbreaking 1996 Asheville Project, which has become the model for medication management therapy programs throughout the country.