Payless Drug Stores began in the northwest in 1939. At one point there were actually two different Payless Drug Groups, out out of the northwest and the other one out of Oakland. These two ultimately merged to create one Payless chain. Throughout the 1980's and early 1990's, Payless grew rapidly through both store acquisiton and organic expansion. During the mid 1980's K-Mart purchased Payless, selling it to an investors group (Leonard Green) in 1994. Payless acquisitions include the purchase of California Valu Giant Stores in the early 1980's, Washington Osco Stores in the late 1980's, Colorado/Utah/Idaho Osco Stores in the early 1990's, and Alaska/Hawaii/Washington Pay 'N Save Stores (which were owned by Thrifty at that time) around 1993..
In 1993, Leonard Green Group bought Thrifty. At that point, Big Five was spun off to a separate arm of Green's group. Then in 1994, Green purchased Payless from K-Mart. The Payless management team was selected to run the combined Thrifty/Payless operation, and headquarters were moved to the then-Payless headquarters in Wilsonville, OR. Then in 1996, Rite Aid announced they would purchase Thrifty/Payless. In early 1998, store banners changed to Rite Aid. The only thing that didn't change, was the Thrifty Ice Cream. It is interesting to note that Thrifty Ice Cream is the only thing Rite Aid has ever bought, and not changed the name of to their own.
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