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Rite Aid to Sell 7 Locations in Downtown San Franciscoand 5 Locations in Eastern Idaho to Walgreens

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  Published in Stocks and Investing on Thursday, February 5th 2009 at 11:12 GMT, Last Modified on 2009-02-05 11:13:23 by Market Wire
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CAMP HILL, Pa.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) announced today that is has signed an agreement to sell seven Rite Aid locations in downtown San Francisco and five Rite Aid locations in eastern Idaho to Walgreens. The transition to Walgreens is expected to be completed by the end of March, 2009.

Rite Aid continues to operate 605 stores throughout California, including 42 stores in the Bay Area. Of the 31 states where Rite Aid operates, California has the second largest number of Rite Aid stores after New York.

The five eastern Idaho stores included in the transaction are located in Pocatello, Blackfoot, Twin Falls, Burley and Idaho Falls. Rite Aid continues to operate 14 stores in western Idaho, which borders Washington and Oregon where Rite Aid operates more than 200 stores and a distribution center.

"Our strategy is to focus our operations where we can best leverage the Rite Aid brand and operate most efficiently," said Chris Hall, Rite Aid senior vice president of strategic business development. "With only seven stores in all of the city of San Francisco we didn't have the critical mass to be successful there, and our stores in eastern Idaho are just too widespread and too distant from other Rite Aid locations to operate efficiently. This is a good transaction for Rite Aid."

Locations of the Rite Aid stores affected by the transaction are:

San Francisco

• 1300 Bush Street
• 5280 Geary Blvd.
• 1496 Market Street
• 776 Market Street
• 200 W. Portal Ave.
• 1830 Ocean Avenue
• 3931 Alemany Blvd.

Eastern Idaho

• 1000 Pocatello Creek Road, Pocatello
• 960 W. Bridge St., Blackfoot
• 1139 Addison Ave. East, Twin Falls
• 904 E. Main St., Burley
• 1745 W. Broadway St., Idaho Falls

Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) is one of the nation's leading drugstore chains with more than 4,900 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia with fiscal 2008 annual sales of more than $24.3 billion. Information about Rite Aid, including corporate background and press releases, is available through the company's Web site at [ http://www.riteaid.com ].