Drugstore merger marks the end of an era

By Jeff Pope

Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 | midnight

As far as Mary Ellison is concerned, it's just another corporate takeover and another long-time name disappearing from the urban landscape.

The 65-year-old Summerlin resident said the news that her favorite Longs Drugs, 800 S. Rampart Blvd., could be renamed CVS doesn't surprise her or bother her because nothing stays the same for long, especially in Las Vegas.

"It seems just like when you get used to something, it changes," Ellison said. "It's hard to feel like you can trust a place when it changes all the time."

In older American cities and small towns, residents mourn the loss of the landmark theater, grocer or corner drugstore.

The closest Las Vegas had to a hometown drugstore was the Thrifty Drug stores. Although headquartered in Los Angeles, Thrifty operated in Las Vegas for decades and its ice cream was so popular with locals that the brand continued 10 years after Rite Aid purchased the chain.

That is, until Rite Aid closed all of its 28 Las Vegas stores this year, thus completing Thrifty Drug's slide to retail history.

Rite Aid was not profitable in the market, according to the company. It sold its prescription files to rival Walgreens.

Longs urged stockholders to accept the $2.9 billion, $71.50 per share, buyout offer from larger rival CVS made public on Aug. 12. However, Advisory Research, which has a 9.2 percent stake in Longs, said it would ask regulators to mediate a better deal, according to published reports.

Longs operates 521 stores in California, Hawaii, Nevada and Arizona generating $5 billion in annual sales. CVS posted sales of $85 billion, and the acquisition will make it the largest chain in the country, with 6,800 stores in 41 states and Washington, D.C.

CVS executives have not said if they would close any of the 25 Longs in Nevada, eight of which are in the Las Vegas Valley.

The Longs name would remain in Hawaii due to name recognition and geographic separation, according to CVS.

At least one customer has loyalty to the 70-year-old Longs chain, based in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Longs has been Ken Farr's drugstore of choice for 40 years, first in the San Francisco area and for the past five years in Las Vegas. As a child, Farr, 71, rode his bicycle to the store to buy candy and toys and now purchases his prescriptions and other health care products there.

"It's always been a friendly place," he said. "I've gotten accustomed to it being here."

Letisha Daniels, 34, said the name on the building or the bag doesn't matter as long as it's affordable and convenient.

"This is where I come to get my prescriptions. So as long as I can get my prescriptions, it'll be OK with me," she said.