Longs Drugs

About Longs Drugs

Longs Drugs (NYSE: LDG) is a pharmacy chain store located on the West Coast of the United States. It was founded in 1938 by brothers Thomas and Joseph Long (son-in-law of Marion Barton Skaggs, co-founder of Safeway Inc.), with their first store in Oakland, California. Longs Drugs currently has over 500 stores located in California, Nevada, and Hawaii; and is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. On August 12th, 2008, CVS Pharmacy announced that it would acquire Longs Drugs for $2.9 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed by year-end.

Although a California-based company, Longs has maintained stores in Hawaii long enough to become a local establishment. Its first Hawaii store, in downtown Honolulu, opened March 29, 1954. In 2005, Honolulu Advertiser columnist Lee Cataluna published a short-story collection, Folks You Meet in Longs, and Other Stories It is based on Cataluna's eponymous play which premiered August 2003 at Kumu Kahua Theater .

On August 12, 2008 Longs Drugs announced that they were being acquired by CVS Caremark Corp, the operator of national CVS/Pharmacy chain of drugstores. CVS is buying the 521 Longs locations to expand its presence on the West Coast, primarily in California. CVS made its first major entry into California with its 2006 acquisition of Southern California based Sav-On Drugs. CVS Caremark will pay a total of $2.54 billion to acquire all outstanding share of Longs Drugs, and be able to wring upwards of $100 million a year from expenses in synergies attained from the business combination.