CEO Mary Sammons

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Rite Aid Corp <RAD.N>, the No. 3 U.S. drugstore chain, said it expected a wider fiscal-year loss than it previously had forecast as sales keep falling, sending its shares down nearly 7 percent. The company also posted its ninth consecutive quarterly net loss on Thursday. While the loss was not as steep as analysts had expected, Rite Aid's outlook suggests fiscal-year results could fall well below Wall Street's view. Rite Aid has been reducing its debt level, closing some stores and revamping others as it continues to digest its 2007 acquisition of the Brooks and Eckerd chains. At the same time, ... Read Full Story

The nation's third-largest drugstore chain is no longer making pregnant women show a prescription to get a flu shot. Cheryl Slavinsky, a spokeswoman for Rite Aid, says the policy change is for both seasonal flu and swine flu shots. Pregnant women have low vaccination rates, partly because many obstetricians don't vaccinate and some pharmacists have been wary of giving them shots. Public health officials are trying to change that. Pregnant women are on the priority list for regular winter flu and swine flu shots. Rite Aid announced the change in policy Wednesday. Spokesmen for Walgreen Co. and CVS Caremark Corp. say their drugstores don't ... Read Full Story

Drugstore operator Rite Aid Corp. is reporting a smaller second-quarter loss than a year ago, but is lowering its expectations for the fiscal year. The Camp Hill, Pa., company said Thursday it lost $120.4 million, or 14 cents per share, after preferred dividends in the three months ended Aug. 29. That compares with a loss of $227.4 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts expected a larger loss of 16 cents a share for the latest quarter. It says revenue fell 3 percent to $6.3 billion, missing Wall Street estimates of $6.4 billion. It says the weak economy, high unemployment and ... Read Full Story

Alex Grass, who founded Rite Aid Corp. and built it into one of the nation's largest drugstore chains, has died of lung cancer. Grass, 82, died Thursday night at his Harrisburg home after a decade-long battle with the disease, his daughter, Elizabeth Grass Weese of Baltimore, said Friday. Grass also was a philanthropist who contributed to civic, health and educational organizations. "Alex Grass was larger than life," said Rabbi Peter Kessler of Harrisburg's Temple Ohev Sholom, where Grass was a member and where a funeral is scheduled for Sunday. "He was a great friend to many in his community and throughout the world." Born ... Read Full Story

Rite Aid Corp. founder Alex Grass has died at age 82. Grass' daughter, Elizabeth Weese, says he died Thursday night after a 10-year battle with lung cancer. He helped build Rite Aid into one of the nation's largest drugstore chains and was a philanthropist who gave to civic, health and educational organizations in the Harrisburg area. Grass was educated as a lawyer, but his business career took off when he opened a health and beauty aids store in Scranton in 1962. He stepped down as chairman and chief executive in 1995. His son, Martin Grass, later ran the Camp Hill-based company but was ousted ... Read Full Story