Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 19, 1994 TAG: 9407270052
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder Newspapers
DATELINE: TWINSBURG, OHIO LENGTH: Medium
Company officials notified employees at the affected stores Monday and are expected to put the stores up for sale today. D. Dwayne Hoven, Revco's president and chief executive officer, said the company will sell the Brooks Pharmacy chain of 219 stores located in New England, 31 Hook-SupeRx stores in Michigan, 16 Hook-SupeRx stores in the Chicago area and six deep-discount stores in the South.
``We think those stores should be picked up fairly rapidly,'' Hoven said.
Hoven said Revco also will close about 50 of its remaining 2,130 stores over the next two years. However, which stores will close has not been determined, he said, adding that some of those stores could be in Ohio.
``The stores that will be closed fall into two categories: poor performing stores in poor locations, or average performers with overlapping market share,'' Hoven said.
Before the $600 million deal with Hook-SupeRx was signed, teams of Revco employees visited each of the 1,150 stores in the chain to evaluate its potential. Hoven said the teams provided preliminary reports. However, before any final decisions are made, the teams will revisit the stores.
Even after the closing and sale of the stores, Revco will still be the nation's second-largest drugstore chain behind Rite-Aid.Revco officials also informed workers at the three Hook-SupeRx administrative offices that the offices will be closed and they will be out of work once the transition is complete. Most of the Hook-SupeRx management-level employees also were informed Monday that their jobs will be eliminated.
``It's unfortunate,'' Hoven said. ``But those offices have to be closed and the functions moved here.''
Some employees at stores involved in the switch said they were not worried by the change.
``I've been here for 14 years and we have changed hands eight or nine times,'' said John Learned, assistant manager of a Brooks Pharmacy in Burlington, Vt. ``After a while, you get used to it. And so far, a lot of the moves have been very positive.''
Revco's actions got the seal of approval from Wall Street Monday.
Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Co. affirmed its BBB-rating for Revco's $140 million in senior unsecured notes and removed the company from its Rating Watch.
by CNB