I decided to start this topic for two reasons: so as to not even slightly clog the forums up with separate threads and I am one of two regulars on here who lives/lived in Michigan for part of his life. Anyways, as late as the late 1990's, there were three local pharmacy chains with locations across Michigan.
- Arbor Drugs: They started out in 1974 with five stores somewhere in Metro Detroit and later went public in 1986, trading on NASDAQ. Their locations were primarily concentrated within Metro Detroit, stretching as far north as Bay City. They would later be acquired by CVS in early 1998, bringing the chain into Michigan for the first time. Most were converted to CVS, but strangely a sizable amount of former Arbors were eventually shuttered by CVS, in several cases to relocate to newer and nearby from-scratch buildings with drive-thru pharmacies, as was the case with the former Arbor Drugs in the Riverview Landing Shopping Center in Riverview, Michigan. I do know that after the acquisition, CVS somehow ended up with three former Arbors within the city of Wyandotte, Michigan! Two of these are still operating, a third in the Fort-Grove Shopping Center was shuttered sometime later, later became a bingo hall and is now vacant.
Below is a picture of a then-brand-new Arbor Drugs in Hamtramck, Michigan (a separate city that's located within Detroit), which is now a CVS.
(http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/legacy/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/arbordrugs.jpg) - Cunningham Drugs: This chain was slightly before my time. They were founded in October 1889 in Detroit and not only operated stores throughout eastern Michigan, they also had stores in Ohio and Florida. The non-union Michigan stores were rebranded as Apex Drugs in 1982 and both Cunningham and Apex were acquired by Perry Drugs in 1985. The Ohio stores were sold to Gray Drug, but the Florida stores held on until they were acquired by Walgreens in 1991.
Below is a picture of a former Cunningham Drugs on Grand River Avenue in Detroit that's now operating as an independent pharmacy:
(http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/4fe49a1e85216d79b9007788/Cunningham-drug-06.JPG)
And here's a Cunningham Drugs in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1972. I have no idea what's there now or if the building's even there any more.
(http://www.aadl.org/files/photos/A2signs656.jpg)
- Perry Drugs: They were a huge chain that started out in Pontiac, Michigan in 1957. By the 1980's their stores were all across the Lower Peninsula. They acquired several Michigan Revco stores in 1990, which not only made it the most dominant pharmacy chain in Metro Detroit, but brought Perry Drugs into Upper Michigan for the first time. They also acquired Hook's Drug Stores' Michigan locations in 1994. They attempted an expansion into Chicago twice-first through a failed attempt to acquire DeKoven Drugs and then again on their own in 1981. The Chicago stores were later spun off into their own division in 1982 and was liquidated by 1993. During the 1990's, they developed an online computer system for their stores called Perrylink. In 1995, they were acquired by Rite-Aid in what was then their biggest acquisition, which also brought Rite-Aid into the Detroit market.
Here's the logo they used:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f6/Perry.png)
Below is a picture of a former Perry Drugs in the Trafford Square Shopping Center in Trenton, Michigan, taken in 2006. In very late 2008 or early 2009, Rite-Aid relocated to a new from-scratch building nearby in Woodhaven and this location has been vacant since.
(http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j254/rimes12/Pictures07/040_40.jpg)
Perry and Arbor were absolutely EVERYWHERE when I lived in Michigan 25 yrs. ago.