Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. The company ranked No. 148 in the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. Rite Aid began in 1962, opening its first store in Scranton, Pennsylvania; it was called Thrift D Discount Center. After several years of growth, Rite Aid adopted its current name and debuted as a public company in 1968. Rite Aid is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RAD. In late 2015, Walgreens announced that it would acquire Rite Aid for $17.2 billion pending approval. However, on June 29, 2017, over fear of antitrust regulations, Walgreens Boots Alliance announced it would buy roughly half of Rite Aid's stores for $5.18 billion. On September 19, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved a fourth deal agreement for Walgreens to purchase 1,932 stores from Rite Aid for $4.38 billion total. History Alex Grass founded the Rite Aid chain in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in September 1962, after marrying into Harrisburg Pennsylvania's Lehrman family in the early 1950s. The first store was called Thrift D Discount Center. The store expanded into five additional states in 1965 and went public as Rite Aid in 1968. It moved to the New York Stock Exchange in 1970. Rite Aid is one of Fortune 500's Largest U.S. Corporations. Growth and acquisitions Ten years after its first store opened, Rite Aid operated 267 locations in 10 states. In 1981, Rite Aid became the third-largest retail drugstore chain in the country. 1983 marked a sales milestone of $1 billion. A 420-store acquisition along the east coast expanded Rite Aid's holdings beyond 2,000 locations. A large number of acquisitions brought the chain to the state of Michigan in 1984. These were of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Muir Drug and Remes Drug, along with Lippert Pharmacy of Lowell and Herrlich Drug of Flint; one year later, Rite Aid opened stores in Lansing, Michigan through the acquisition of State Vitamin. Expansion into Ohio began in 1987 through the acquisition of Cleveland-based Gray Drug. Among the companies acquired was Baltimore, Maryland's Read's Drug Store. On April 10, 1989, Peoples Drug's 114 unit Lane Drug of Ohio was purchased by Rite Aid. Rite Aid acquired twenty-four Hook's Drug Stores stores in 1994, selling nine