Fay's Drug was a chain of drug stores that was founded in 1958 in Fairmount, New York. At its height, Fay's Drugs operated its core business, along with Wheels Discount Auto and The Paper Cutter Books and Office and Party Supply.
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| Fay's Drug | |
| Formerly | Fay's Drug Company, Inc. |
| Company type | Public |
| NYSE: FAY | |
| Industry | Retail, Drug store |
| Founded | 1958 in Fairmount, New York |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 1997 |
| Fate | Merged into Eckerd (now Rite Aid) |
| Headquarters | Syracuse, New York |
Number of locations | 272 (1996) |
| Products | Beauty products, drugs, snacks, beer, photo shop, movies, food and housewares. |
| Subsidiaries |
|
History
editBeginning
edit
In 1958, the first Fay's Drug Store was opened in Fairmount, New York by Henry A. Panasci, Jr. and his father Henry Panasci Sr. The store was named after Faye Panasci, wife of Henry Panasci, Jr.
Fay's steadily grew in Central New York—the resulting Fay's Drugs Company, Inc. was incorporated on October 20, 1966 and Fay's Drugs opened its headquarters in Syracuse, New York with the bulk of its operations residing in Liverpool, New York. At its peak there were over 300 stores operating in New York and Northeast Pennsylvania. Fay's enjoyed #1 market share in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany.
Acquisitions
editIn 1979 Fay's acquired the Key Drug store chain in Rochester, NY and converted them to Fay's; further expanding their Rochester area market.[1]
In 1991, Fay's Drugs acquired the 48 drug stores operated by Victory Markets as Carls Drugs. Carls Drugs was founded by Carl Panasci, brother and uncle to the Fay's Drugs founders.[2]
Divestures
editIn the mid-1990s, Fay's Drugs decide to divest itself of its non-core subsidiaries. The company closed nine under-performing stores in its Paper Cutter subsidiary in April 1993.[3] In 1996, the company sold its remaining 29 Paper Cutter stores to Long Island-based Party Experience Inc., a chain of party- and holiday-oriented supply stores,[4] which converted the Paper Cutter stores to the Party Experience format the following year.[5]
In December 1995, the company sold its Wheels Discount Auto Supply subsidiary with its 82 auto parts stores in New York and Pennsylvania to the Sears-owned Western Auto Supply for $37 million (~$67.6 million in 2023).[6][7]
JCPenney
edit
In 1996, Fay's Drugs was sold to JCPenney for $285 million in stock.[8][9] JCPenney merged its drug operations into Eckerd in 1997.[10] Many of the original Fay's Drugs locations that have not been closed in favor of stand-alone Eckerd stores (many now Rite Aid and Walgreens locations) still feature the familiar Fay's aisle and pharmacy formats that served as models for drug chains nationwide.
Despite Fay's shutting down 26½ years prior to Rite Aid's bankruptcy filing, Fay's Drug was listed in another bankruptcy filing. [citation needed]
References
edit- ^ Morrell, Alan (April 23, 2016). "Whatever Happened To ... Fay's Drugs?". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
- ^ "Fay's Is Acquiring Rival Drug Chain". The New York Times. February 7, 1991.
- ^ "Fay's closing Paper Cutter outlets in Pa., N.J." United Press International. April 14, 1993.
- ^ Sorensen, Jon R. & Linstedt, Sharon (July 13, 1996). "New Owner Will Change Paper Cutter". Buffalo News.
- ^ Raeke, Carolyn & Linstedt, Sharon (May 26, 1997). "Party Experience Is New Name on Former Paper Cutter Stores". Buffalo News.
- ^ "Western Auto Buying Wheels Auto Store Chain". Buffalo News. November 6, 1995.
- ^ "Fay's Completes Sale of Unit". The Wall Street Journal. December 4, 1995. p. n/a. ProQuest 398596426.
Fay's Inc. said it completed the sale of its Wheels Discount Auto Supply unit to Sears, Roebuck & Co.'s Western Auto Supply Co. for $37 million.
- ^ "J. C. Penney to Buy Fay's Drugstore Chain". The New York Times. August 7, 1996.
- ^ "Penney to Buy Northeast Drugstore Chain: Retailing: In competitive move, it will pay $285 million in stock for 272-store Fay's". Los Angeles Times. August 7, 1996.
- ^ "J.C. Penney to Acquire Eckerd for $2.5 Billion". Los Angeles Times. November 4, 1996.