Drugstores of Michigan
Posted: 22 Mar 2009 00:14
There's at least one other Michigan native here, so...
From my recollection, there were at least three drugstore chains based in Michigan. I'll break them down one by one:
ARBOR DRUGS
Arbor began in Detroit somewhere, that's all I know. They were primarily a SE Michigan chain, but I know that Bay City and Flint had some too. Most of them were converted to CVS/pharmacy, but for some reason, CVS/pharmacy closed up most of the former Arbor drugs not long after acquisition. I remember the two in Bay City still had fairly fresh Arbor Drugs labelscars when CVS/pharmacy closed them. One is now a carpet store, and the other is a Dollar General.
Here's a former Arbor/CVS location in Grand Blanc, Michigan that's now a Rite Aid. From the outside, it still looks exactly like a CVS/pharmacy (not sure about the inside):
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&F ... &encType=1
CUNNINGHAM DRUG
I don't know much about Cunningham's, except that some went non-union and became Apex Drug. Cunningham's and Apex were acquired by Perry Drug Stores (see below) around 1985. I know that Cunningham went as far as Alpena, and maybe even further north. Here's a former Cunningham's still operational as an independent drugstore:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71288712@N00/2428963488/
PERRY
Perry Drug Stores was the big one in Michigan, begun in Pontiac sometime in the 1950s. They were pretty much all over the mitten, with at least one in the UP as well. One of their first acquisitions was Gould's Rexall, which had a handful of locations in my neck of the woods, including Cadillac, Mount Pleasant, West Branch, East Tawas, etc. I know nothing else about Gould's. Perry also took over the Michigan Cunningham's locations (the Ohio ones were sold to Gray Drug) in 1985, as well as all of the Michigan Revco and Hook's stores in 1990 and 1994, respectively. Rite Aid made their biggest acquisition in 1995 when they took over Perry. No doubt all the acquisitions led to Perry, and in turn Rite Aid, effectively pwning Arbor Drugs.
I haven't been able to find any good pictures of a former Perry Drug store, as almost every single one was in a strip mall, and I don't really recall them having any sort of consistent store design anyway. All I remember is that they had brown storefronts, but there was no real consistency among the ones I saw. Furthermore, almost all of them have been replaced by newer stores. One thing I do remember about the former Perry stores is that, after the conversion to Rite Aid, none of them had the pentagonal Rite Aid logo, instead opting for RITE AID PHARMACY in all caps, red, pseudo-Helvetica. Perhaps Rite Aid put no effort into remodeling because they knew that most of these stores would be replaced with drive-thru stores in a few years anyway? (Well, except for the former Perry in Grand Blanc, which held out until last year.)
From my recollection, there were at least three drugstore chains based in Michigan. I'll break them down one by one:
ARBOR DRUGS
Arbor began in Detroit somewhere, that's all I know. They were primarily a SE Michigan chain, but I know that Bay City and Flint had some too. Most of them were converted to CVS/pharmacy, but for some reason, CVS/pharmacy closed up most of the former Arbor drugs not long after acquisition. I remember the two in Bay City still had fairly fresh Arbor Drugs labelscars when CVS/pharmacy closed them. One is now a carpet store, and the other is a Dollar General.
Here's a former Arbor/CVS location in Grand Blanc, Michigan that's now a Rite Aid. From the outside, it still looks exactly like a CVS/pharmacy (not sure about the inside):
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&F ... &encType=1
CUNNINGHAM DRUG
I don't know much about Cunningham's, except that some went non-union and became Apex Drug. Cunningham's and Apex were acquired by Perry Drug Stores (see below) around 1985. I know that Cunningham went as far as Alpena, and maybe even further north. Here's a former Cunningham's still operational as an independent drugstore:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/71288712@N00/2428963488/
PERRY
Perry Drug Stores was the big one in Michigan, begun in Pontiac sometime in the 1950s. They were pretty much all over the mitten, with at least one in the UP as well. One of their first acquisitions was Gould's Rexall, which had a handful of locations in my neck of the woods, including Cadillac, Mount Pleasant, West Branch, East Tawas, etc. I know nothing else about Gould's. Perry also took over the Michigan Cunningham's locations (the Ohio ones were sold to Gray Drug) in 1985, as well as all of the Michigan Revco and Hook's stores in 1990 and 1994, respectively. Rite Aid made their biggest acquisition in 1995 when they took over Perry. No doubt all the acquisitions led to Perry, and in turn Rite Aid, effectively pwning Arbor Drugs.
I haven't been able to find any good pictures of a former Perry Drug store, as almost every single one was in a strip mall, and I don't really recall them having any sort of consistent store design anyway. All I remember is that they had brown storefronts, but there was no real consistency among the ones I saw. Furthermore, almost all of them have been replaced by newer stores. One thing I do remember about the former Perry stores is that, after the conversion to Rite Aid, none of them had the pentagonal Rite Aid logo, instead opting for RITE AID PHARMACY in all caps, red, pseudo-Helvetica. Perhaps Rite Aid put no effort into remodeling because they knew that most of these stores would be replaced with drive-thru stores in a few years anyway? (Well, except for the former Perry in Grand Blanc, which held out until last year.)