Revco

Interior of Revco store that was converted from a movie theater on North High Street in Columbus, Ohio. The store was converted to a CVS Pharmacy after the company purchased Revco and then relocated to another location. While a unique location due to its conversion from a movie theater, this store incorporated the designs of newer Revco stores across the country. Note the different angles of the aisles, lower light levels than of most U.S. drug stores today, and soft colors.

In 1986, Revco was the target of a leveraged buyout. Part of the buyout deal was to reduce costs by closing stores and by reducing inventory to repay debts. This left the company with a shortfall of cash, and suppliers stopped shipping inventory, causing the chain to lose customers. This eventually caused the chain to file for bankruptcy in 1988. Revco was bailed out of bankruptcy by investor Sam Zell, in part to fend off separate takeover attempts by both Eckerd and Rite Aid.[5] In 1990, 221 Midwest Revco stores were purchased by Reliable Drug, based in Cleveland, OH. The Michigan stores purchased by Reliable were sold almost immediately to Perry Drugs.[6] Revco emerged from bankruptcy, as an independent company, in 1992.

Revco's turnaround from bankruptcy was and is often still considered the "model" of a business recovering from bankruptcy.[7] The chain closed many underperforming stores (including selling all stores west of the Mississippi River to the son of the then-current Rite Aid CEO), reduced costs, introduced computerized point-of-sale systems, and introduced a new store design to help increase sales.[8] The chain shrank from about 2,200 stores to about 1,500 stores during this period.[5]

The hallmark of the new store designs was the arrangement of the store aisles, which was developed and introduced as the company was emerging from bankruptcy. Half the store had aisles that ran from the front of the store to the back in straight rows. Seasonal merchandise, food, greeting cards, baby supplies, hardware and office supplies were in this half of the store. The other half of the store, the health and beauty sections, had their aisles slanted so customers could see down the aisles as they walked from the front doors to the pharmacy, which was in the back of the store. A very wide main aisle led from the front door to the pharmacy, and this aisle separated the slanted aisles from the "straight aisles". While many drug stores in the U.S. have variations of this design today, it was a departure at the time from the usual all front-to-back, straight aisles. In Revco's free standing stores, the slanted aisles had an open ceiling above them; the other aisles had a drop ceiling over them. In these stores today, which are now CVS stores, the open ceiling and drop ceiling are still in place (though all the aisles are now aligned in a traditional manner).

The new stores also were decorated in soft blues and greys, had track lighting, and low hanging lights over the greeting cards, all which gave the store a "soft" appearance. Revco introduced strict rules about having no handwritten signs or merchandise displays sitting directly on the floor, which it thought gave the stores a cleaner look. It also required its employees to dress extremely professionally, with men wearing ties. All front-end employees had to wear a navy blue smock.

After emerging from bankruptcy, the chain grew tremendously again, increasing its store count to over 2,500 stores. Part of this growth came from the purchase of over 800 Hook's/SupeRx drug stores in 1994 in the Mid-Atlantic region and Midwest, and Birmingham, Alabama based Big B Drugs in the southeast, which was its last purchase, made in 1996.

In order to help Zell recover his investment in the company, the company's management was under pressure to sell the company.[7] In 1996, Revco entered into an agreement with Rite Aid to be bought out. The Federal Trade Commission announced that it would sue to stop the buyout, saying that Rite Aid would become a monopoly in many markets because Rite Aid and Revco had many overlapping stores, and Rite Aid withdrew its bid for the company.[9]

The chain was purchased by CVS Pharmacy in June 1997, which at the time was half of Revco's size, and CVS rebranded or closed all of the 2,552 Revco stores by summer of 1998. In at least one market, Richmond, Virginia, the Federal Trade Commission prohibited CVS from taking over the Revco stores, stating that the company would have a near monopoly. So CVS sold the Revco stores it had bought to Eckerd. Eckerd changed most of the Richmond area Revco stores to Eckerd stores, and closed a few of them. A few others closed within a few years. Eckerd maintained its presence in the Richmond market until 2007, when it was bought out by Rite Aid. By that time, however, Rite Aid's operations in the Richmond area did not constitute a monopoly, as Walgreens had entered the market in the late 1990s and opened many successful stores.

• Sidney Dworkin (1961–1986)
• William Edwards (1986–1987)
• Boake Sells (1987–1992)
• D. Dwayne Hoven (1992–1997, last CEO)

Revco was one of the first drug store chains in the country to have a centralized pharmacy computer system, which it called Prescription Access Link (PAL). This system allowed each Revco access to any other Revco's prescription information. It highly advertised this system to customers, which allowed a customer to go any Revco to have their prescription refilled without the stores having to call each other on the phone. While this type of system is the norm in drug stores today, it was revolutionary when Revco used it. PAL was introduced to Revco stores during its emergence from bankruptcy.[8] Revco providers eventually closed their stores

Revco founded and sponsored a marathon in Cleveland, which was often referred to among runners as "The Revco" (its full name was "The Revco Cleveland Marathon and 10K"). The first race took place in 1976, when jogging/running first became a national fitness craze. Famous Olympic athlete Jesse Owens fired the starting gun at the first race, which started at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, wound its way up Rt. 91 north through Twinsburg and Solon, and eventually ended in Cleveland. This particularly grueling course was changed in later years to begin and end at Cleveland State University. Many famous runners participated over the years, as "The Revco" became an Olympic qualifying event. After CVS bought Revco, the race became known as the "CVS Marathon and 10K" before CVS dropped its sponsorship in the early 2000s. The race is now sponsored by Rite Aid.