Thrifty Will Buy Guild Drugstore Chain

Thrifty Corp., a Los Angeles-based retail drugstore chain, agreed Thursday to acquire the Guild Inc. for stock worth about $12.5 million.

Leonard H. Straus, Thrifty chairman, said most of the 13 Guild Drug stores included in the acquisition would be converted to Thrifty Jr. stores. Thrifty Jr. stores are one-third the size of Thrifty Drug stores and “are located in places that would not accommodate the larger stores,” Straus said.

The Guild acquisition is the second by Thrifty this year. The company purchased the 15-store Drug King chain Jan. 30 and is in the process of converting some of those stores into Thrifty Jr. outlets.

Also part of the Guild acquisition are a “number of leases” on retail properties in Los Angeles and Orange counties, Straus said. Those would be held as income properties, he said, adding that there are no plans to convert them into Thrifty stores.

Thrifty said it expected to close the sale in late April. Donald G. Guild, president of the Guild, which is based in Carson, declined to comment on the sale.

Straus said that Thrifty may acquire other retail drugstore companies to expand the Thrifty Jr. chain and that he plans to add 25 stores a year to the chain.

Thrifty Jr. stores are located within neighborhood shopping districts or within shopping centers “that either because of space or high rents can’t accommodate a regular Thrifty,” Straus said.

The larger Thrifty Drug stores generally anchor strip shopping centers.

Besides about 550 Thrifty Drug stores, Thrifty Corp. also owns 90 Big 5 Sporting Goods stores and has interests in the 187-store Crown Books chain and the 72-store Trak Auto West discount automobile parts chain.