Gray Drug

Gray Drug was an American drugstore chain in Cleveland, Ohio.

In 1912, Hungarian immigrant Adolph Weinberger opened a drug store on E. 30th and Scovill Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. He began acquiring other stores and incorporated Weinberger Drug Co. in 1921. By 1927, there were seven stores. Weinberger expanded to 21 stores throughout Cleveland, Mansfield, Sandusky, Youngstown, and Pittsburgh by 1934 and continued to grow throughout the Great Depression. In 1936, there were 29 stores with headquarters at 2400 Superior Avenue.^[2] He acquired two other chains in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1946, and changed the company name for its 78 stores to Gray Drug Stores.^[3][4]

The company entered the discount department store business by acquiring the Cincinnati-based Rink's Department Store chain in 1964.^[5][6] In 1966, Gray moved its headquarters to 666 Euclid Avenue.^[2] It also bought the 12-unit Bargain City chain in 1967.^[7][8] By the end of the decade, Gray's business was on the decline. Weinberger's son, Jerome, modernized the company by opening larger stores and emphasizing a greater variety of goods and services. As a result, sales increased from $115 million in 1968 to $314 million in 1977.^[2]

Gray Drug just about doubled its size in 1981 with the acquisition of Drug Fair. At the time, Gray operated 181 stores in Ohio and Florida. The deal added 175 stores in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia. In a related transaction, Gray sold the 47-store Rink's chain to Cook United for $35 million.^[9][10][11]

Gray Drug Fair was then bought by Sherwin-Williams for $55 million that September after an unsuccessful takeover attempt by National City Lines.^[12][13][14] The chain had 362 stores at this time.^[10] Following three months of disappointing results, Gray's president was fired.^[15] Gray Drug acquired several Cunningham Drug stores in 1982.^[16]

By July 1986, Sherwin-Williams announced it would put Gray Drug Fair up for sale. There were 450 stores in Ohio, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia at the time.^[17][18] In December 1986, Sherwin-Williams agreed to sell its 22 stores in Baltimore and 81 stores in Florida to Rite Aid. The rest of the chain would be sold to Gray Drug's management team.^[19] However, this deal ultimately fell through and Rite Aid acquired the entire 356-store chain in May 1987. The deal expanded the company into the D.C. market for the first time.^[20][21][22]