of those stores to Perry Drug Stores, a Michigan-based pharmacy chain. One year later, Rite Aid acquired 224 stores from Perry, thus expanding its presence in Michigan even further. In 1996, Rite Aid acquired Thrifty PayLess, a 1,000-store West Coast chain. The acquisition of Thrifty PayLess included the Northwest-based Bi-Mart membership discount stores, which was sold off in 1998. Acquisitions of Harco, Inc. and K&B, Inc. brought Rite Aid into the Gulf Coast area. In the 1990s, Rite Aid partnered with Carl Paladino's Ellicott Development Co. to expand the company's presence in upstate New York. On August 23, 2006, the Wall Street Journal announced that Rite Aid would acquire 1,858 Eckerd Pharmacy and Brooks Pharmacy stores from Jean Coutu for US$3.4 billion. The deal closed on June 4, 2007. Rite Aid announced that the two chains would be converted to the Rite Aid name, retiring the 109-year-old Eckerd banner. The merger was signed and completed as of June 4, 2007, with all remaining Eckerd stores converted to Rite Aid by the end of September 2007. In 2015, Rite Aid purchased EnvisionRx, a pharmacy benefit manager, which owns subsidiary PBMs MedTrak, Connect Health Solutions, and Smith Premier Services. Partnerships General Nutrition Corporation (GNC) and Rite Aid formed a partnership in January 1999, bringing GNC mini-stores within the Rite Aid pharmacies. A partnership with drugstore.com in June 1999 allowed customers of Rite Aid to place medical prescription orders online for same-day, in-store pickup. In March 2018, Walgreens and Rite Aid agreed to a $4.3 billion deal for Walgreens to purchase 1,932 Rite Aid locations and 3 distribution centers. Amazon announced in June 2019, that Amazon shoppers will be able to pick up their purchases at designated counters inside more than 100 Rite Aid stores across the US. The new service is called Counter and launches in the US after finding success in the UK with the Next clothing chain and in Italy with Giunti Al Punto Librerie, Fermopoint and SisalPay stores. In May of 2022, Rite Aid partnered with Homeward, a rural home care startup. Under this partnership, Medicare-eligible customers will be directed to Homeward's clinical services and will have access to Homeward mobile care units. Company troubles In the late 1990s, Rite Aid performed poorly, and its stock dropped precipitously from $30 to $4.40 At this time, Mary Sammons, of Fred Meyer, was tapped by Leonard Green, of Leonard Green &