Genovese Drug Stores was a pharmacy chain located in the New York City-Long Island area of the United States, including northern New Jersey, along with Fairfield County, Connecticut and Hartford County, Connecticut. It was acquired by JCPenney in 1998 and merged with the latter's subsidiary Eckerd. Genovese was founded in 1924 by Joseph Genovese, in Astoria, Queens. By 1978, when Genovese died, the chain had grown to 50 locations. It opened its first Manhattan location in 1993. At time of its sale in 1998 to JC Penny, the still family-controlled chain was headquartered in Melville, New York and had 141 stores and 5,000 employees. Five years after the acquisition, the Genovese name ceased to exist when all the remaining stores were rebranded as Eckerd. Most Genovese stores that have remained open currently do business as Rite Aid, who bought Eckerd's eastern U.S. operations in 2007. Genovese Drug Stores had no connection to the Genovese crime family, one of the "Five Families" of the city's Mafia. References Rite Aid Defunct pharmacies of the United States Health care companies based in New York (state)