Rite Aid Corporation, as the third largest drugstore chain (behind Walgreen and CVS) in the United States, operates more than 4600 drug stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia, and engages in selling prescription drugs (more than two-thirds of sales), health aids, cosmetics, beauty supplies, convenience foods and other merchandise. It is headquartered in East Pennsboro Township, Pennsylvania, near Camp Hill, and has about 90,000 employees including pharmacists and part-time employees, as of March 3, 2012. (Marketline.com) Rite Aid Corp. also had a long history, which helps it become a mature company now. In 1958, a businessman named Alex Grass founded Rack Rite Distributors in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to provide health and beauty aids and other sundries to grocery stores. In 1962, he had his first drugstore, called Thrif D Discount Center, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which was an offshoot of Rack Rite Distributors. In 1965, pharmacy was added in its stores, and this chain was officially adopted its new name Rita Aid in 1968. At the same time, this company went to public and made its debut on the American Stock Exchange. After that, Rite Aid started to make many diverse acquisitions. For example, in the 1970s, it purchased nearly 300 stores, and by 1981 Rite Aid was the #3 drugstore chain, and sales exceeded $1 billion. During 1980s, approximately 900 stores were added in Rite Aid, due to acquisitions. On the other hand, the cost of expansion eroded Rite Aid's profit margins, so in 1990 Rite Aid started to focus on integrating its buys. In 1995, the company planned to buy Revco, at the time the #2 drugstore operator, but unfortunately the deal was derailed by FTC and Department of Justice objections in 1996. However, the good news is that West Coast chain Thrifty PayLess with 1000 stores was acquired later, and it gave the company more than 3,600 stores and expanded the company's presence in the western U.S. In 1999, General Nutrition Companies, Inc. (GNC) and Rite Aid formed a partnership, which brought GNC stores within the Rite Aid pharmacies. At this point, Rite Aid performed very well in its primary industry of pharmacies and drug store. However, in 2002, former CEO Martin Grass, former vice chairman Franklin Brown and former CFO Frank Bergonzi were indicted for allegedly falsifying Rite Aid’s books. In 2003, Martin Grass paid $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit, since shareholders asserted that Rite Aid’s books were falsified to inflate the stock’s value. As a result, the former CEO Grass and CFO Bergonzi both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud shareholders, and this accounting scandal led to the departure of a few top executives. (Hoovers.com)