Rite Aid, GNC Agree to Invest in Online Retailer Drugstore.com

Drugstore operator Rite Aid Corp. and General Nutrition Cos., a specialty-vitamin retailer, said they will buy stakes in Drugstore.com Inc. as part of a 10-year agreement to sell their products on the World Wide Web.

Rite Aid agreed to invest $7.6 million for 25.3% of Drugstore.com, a closely held online retailer of health-care products. General Nutrition will pay $2.4 million for 8%. Drugstore.com will have exclusive rights to Internet sales of GNC products and the Rite Aid/GNC PharmAssure brand of vitamins and supplements, to be introduced this fall.

Rite Aid said it chose to partner with Drugstore.com because of its financial backing and marketing strategy. Drugstore.com is led by former Microsoft Corp. executive Peter Neupert and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz, online retailer Amazon.com Inc. and venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

The Web sites of Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid and Pittsburgh-based GNC will be linked to Drugstore.com’s, allowing customers to order directly from the retailer. Rite Aid and Bellevue, Wash.-based Drugstore.com also will combine advertising.

In January, Rite Aid and General Nutrition formed an alliance to build 1,500 GNC stores inside Rite Aid stores, develop a joint Internet site, and market a new line of supplements.

Last month, drugstore operator CVS Corp. bought the Internet prescription retailer Soma.com for $30 million to boost its online sales.

Rite Aid shares rose 88 cents to close at $25.94 on the New York Stock Exchange. GNC shares rose 75 cents to close at $20.81 on Nasdaq.