NATIONAL DRUG STORE CHAIN SAYS PEPSI, PLEASE; RITE AID CANS COCA-COLA AFTER BETTER DEAL.Byline: Ben Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer Coke may still be it, but not at Rite Aid Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) is a United States retailer and pharmacy chain, operating over 5,000 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Rite Aid Corporation is one of the nation's leading drugstore chains. drug stores. In what must certainly be the result of a sweet deal signed with PepsiCo, Rite Aid has canceled contracts for all Coca-Cola products. No announcement was made by the Camp Hill, Penn.-based drug store chain, but officials confirmed the deal Tuesday to the Daily News. ``We basically just struck a better deal with Pepsi,'' said Sarah Datz, a Rite Aid spokeswoman. ``It was an opportunity for us to offer the Pepsi family of products at a competitive retail price and we took advantage of that.'' Rite Aid operates 4,000 stores nationally, including 72 Thrifty-Payless stores in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County, sites the company is converting to Rite Aids. Rite Aid opted for Pepsi in November and has been phasing out Coca-Cola products since. Workers even removed the last Coke machines from Rite Aid's corporate headquarters Wednesday, Datz said. ``It's an across-the-board change,'' she said. In addition to Coke, Diet Coke Diet Coke (sometimes known as Diet Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light or Coke Light) is a sugar-free soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. , Sprite and Surge soft drinks, Coca-Cola markets Minute Maid Minute Maid is a product line of beverages, usually associated with orange juice, but now extends to soft drinks of many kinds, including Hi-C. Minute Maid was the first company to market orange juice concentrate, allowing it to be distributed nationwide and served brand fruit juices. Instead of those products, Rite Aid now will carry PepsiCo products including Pepsi, Slice, Mug root beer Mug Root Beer is a brand name of root beer made by the Pepsi company. Mug was first produced by the Belfast Beverage Company in San Francisco, California during the early 1950s. Its name was changed to Mug Old Fashioned Root Beer. , Mountain Dew mountain dew n. Illegally distilled corn liquor. , Lipton Ice Tea, Frappuccino, Aquafina water and All Sport. The deal is part of a declared Rite Aid strategy to use its increased heft since purchasing the Thrifty-Payless chain in 1996 to wrangle discounts from suppliers, said Lisa Fried, an editor at Drug Store News in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . The chain likely will negotiate similar exclusive contracts with other suppliers, including those of greeting cards and film processing, she said. Coca-Cola Co. spokeswoman Polly Howes said the company regrets Rite Aid's decision, ``But it's their decision to make.'' Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo representatives could not be reached for comment. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) no caption (Pepsi can) |
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