Alex Grass
Alex Grass | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alexander Grass August 3, 1927 |
| Died | August 27, 2009 (aged 82) |
| Occupations | Businessman, lawyer, philanthropist |
| Known for | Founding of the Rite Aid drugstore chain |
Alexander Grass (August 3, 1927 – August 27, 2009) was an American businessman, lawyer, and philanthropist who founded Rite Aid,[1] one of the United States' largest drugstore chains.[2]
Early life
Grass was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Jewish parents, Louis and Rose Grass.[1][2] His father, a businessman whom Grass described in 2002 as "relatively successful", died during the Great Depression when Grass was 9 years old in 1938, leaving the family with little income.[1][2][3] Grass' family relocated from Scranton to Miami Beach, Florida in 1936 after his father's death.[4] Grass worked a number of small jobs while living in Florida. He obtained a law degree from the University of Florida Law School in 1949 using the G.I. Bill.[1][2][4]
Business career
Early career
Grass returned to Pennsylvania in 1951 to pursue a legal career in tax law with the Internal Revenue Service and other government agencies.[5] He took a position for the state in the Bureau of Corporation of Tax in Harrisburg.[4][6] While working there, he took the bar exam and passed on his first try. His father-in-law had a wholesale food business, Louis Lehrman and Sons, with his brother-in-law Lewis Lehrman in 1951.[1][2][4][6][7][8] The business sold coffee and sugar during World War II. In 1958, Grass went into the rack-jobbing business to supply health and beauty aids and non-food to grocery customers.[6]
Grass saw several opportunities for retail in the 1960s. While working for the distribution company, Grass noticed that there seemed to be a lack of competitively priced health and beauty stores in Pennsylvania.[2][9] Following changes in pricing regulations in the 1960s, manufacturers could not dictate minimum prices for retailers.[5][9]
Rite Aid
Grass identified an opportunity in the retail sector, thanks to the Supreme Court ruling and lack of competing drugstores. He decided to open a store in downtown Scranton, which he called the Thrif D Discount Center, in 1962.[2][5][10] The store would be the first of the chain which would become Rite Aid. The first store in Scranton saw early success.[5][11] He expanded the business and opened other locations in Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and Lancaster, as well as a second location in Scranton.[5]
By 1968, the company, which had more than 50 stores at the time, had changed its name to Rite Aid.[2][5] Rite Aid's initial public offering was $25 a share on the New York Stock Exchange.[2][5] Rite Aid purchased a rival chain, the Daw Drug Company, which was based in Rochester, New York, in 1969, which doubled the company's size and gave Rite Aid a pharmacy business for the first time.[5]
By the middle of the 1990s, Grass had grown Rite Aid drugstores into an important regional pharmacy chain.[1] Grass retired as the company's chairman and chief executive in March 1995.[2][5] That year, Rite Aid had the most stores of any drugstore in the country and was the nation's number two drugstore in terms of revenue.[2]
Grass' son, Martin Grass, took over the company from his father in 1995.[1] Rite Aid declined as a chain and a brand as Martin Grass sought to expand the company.[2] Martin Grass was fired by the company in 1999, after he was implicated in an $1.6 billion accounting scandal that nearly destroyed Rite Aid, just four years after his father had retired.[2][4] Alongside other Rite Aid executives, Martin Grass was convicted of overstating Rite Aid's earnings during the 1990s and sentenced to eight years in federal prison.[4]
Later life
Alex Grass became involved in philanthropy and other business interests following his departure from Rite Aid.[12] He served as the head of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem board of governors, where he was awarded the National Scopus Award.[12] He served as the longtime director of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.[5]
In 1999, Grass and his son, Roger Grass, purchased the Fleer/SkyBox sports trading card company. The company closed and was sold in 2005.[5] Grass donated $1.5 million to establish the Alex Grass School of Business Leadership at Harrisburg Area Community College.[2] The PinnacleHealth's (now called UPMC Central PA) Harrisburg Hospital named a $14.5 million building after Grass, who was one of its benefactors.[2] Grass donated $1.5 million to the University of Florida to establish chair for its center for Jewish Studies and construct a new law school building.[4]
Personal life and death
Alex Grass met his wife, Lois Lehrman, while in Florida and the couple married six months later.[5] They later divorced.[2] His second wife, Louise, died in 2007.[2] Grass had four children, 2 sons and 2 daughters, with his first wife.[2][3]
Grass died at his home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on August 27, 2009, ten-years after his initial diagnosis with lung cancer.[1][12] Grass' funeral was held at Temple Ohev Sholom in Harrisburg. He was buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Lower Paxton Township, Pennsylvania.[13]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Klaus, Mary (August 27, 2009). "Rite Aid founder Alex Grass dies". The Patriot-News. Advance Publications. Retrieved August 28, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "Alex Grass dies at 82; founder of Rite Aid". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times Communications LLC. August 29, 2009. ISSN 2165-1736. OCLC 3638237. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
- ^ a b "Alex Grass: Rite Aid's Success Led to His Many Philanthropies". San Diego Jewish World. February 11, 2024. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g Falchek, David (August 29, 2009). "Scranton native and Rite Aid founder Alex Grass dies after 10-year battle with lung cancer". The Scranton Times-Tribune. MediaNews Group. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Klaus, Mary (August 28, 2009). "Beacon of generosity". The Patriot-News. Advance Publications. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
- ^ a b c "UF law school graduate, founder of drug store chain, Grass: he passed the Pennsylvania Bar his first try". The Gainesville Sun. Gannett. August 8, 1999. p. 37. ISSN 0163-4925. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Kramer, Michael (April 5, 1982). "Who is this guy Lew Lehrman?". New York. New York Media. pp. 26–27. ISSN 0028-7369. OCLC 1760010. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
- ^ Kramer, Michael (June 7, 1982). "All-Star Family Feud". New York. New York Media. p. 21. ISSN 0028-7369. OCLC 1760010. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
- ^ a b "UF law school graduate, founder of drug store chain, Grass: he passed the Pennsylvania Bar his first try". The Gainesville Sun. Gannett. August 8, 1999. p. 39. ISSN 0163-4925. Retrieved August 3, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Salinger, Lawrence M., ed. (2004). Encyclopedia of White-Collar & Corporate Crime (Hardcover). Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publishing. p. 692. ISBN 978-0761930044.
- ^ Haggerty, James (October 6, 2012). "Rite Aid got its start in Scranton". Hazleton Standard Speaker. MediaNews Group. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ a b c Duhigg, Charles (August 28, 2009). "Alex Grass, Who Helped to Start Rite Aid, Dies at 82". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
- ^ "Alexander Grass, Rite Aid founder, laid to rest". The Patriot-News. Advance Publications. August 30, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.