drugstore.com was an internet retailer in health and beauty care products. Its web operations were launched on February 24, 1999, and shut down on September 30, 2016 after being acquired by

Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...

in March 2011 for $409 million. In June 1999,

Rite Aid Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. The company ranked No. 148 in the Fortune 500 l ...

entered into a ten-year strategic relationship with Drugstore.com which allowed Drugstore.com customers to pick up prescriptions at Rite Aid stores, and enabled Drugstore.com to sell Rite Aid products, as well as vitamins from retailer

General Nutrition Center GNC Holdings, LLC (abbreviated GNC; alternatively General Nutrition Centers) is a retail company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It specializes in health and nutrition related products, including vitamins, supplements, minerals, herbs, sports ...

(GNC). On September 3, 2008, Drugstore.com amended and restated both the main agreement and the pharmacy supply and services agreement dated June 17, 1999 between Rite Aid and Drugstore.com. Through those agreements with Rite Aid, Drugstore.com had access to Rite Aid customers through the RiteAid.com website and the Rite Aid online store, which was powered by the Drugstore.com website. Drugstore.com ended a sourcing deal with

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...

in 2005. In addition to the Drugstore.com website, the company also maintained storefronts at Beauty.com, VisionDirect.com, Lensmart.com, Lensworld.com, and Lensquest.com. Its headquarters were at 411 108th Ave. NE, Suite 1600; Bellevue, WA 98004; (425) 372-3200, and the company had customer service centers in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as ...

and

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

. DS Distribution, Inc., located in the Pureland Industrial Complex in

Logan Township, New Jersey Logan Township is a township in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 6,042, reflecting an increase of 10 (+0.2%) from the 6,032 counted in the 2000 census. Logan Town ...

, was its wholly owned subsidiary responsible for the distribution of OTC products, beauty.com products, and CNS (Custom Nutrition Services) products. Distribution of VisionDirect.com products is from a center in

. Prescriptions were handled by Walgreens. It had an "FSA store" containing items that are likely to be eligible for purchase using a medical

flexible spending account In the United States, a flexible spending account (FSA), also known as a flexible spending arrangement, is one of a number of tax-advantaged financial accounts, resulting in payroll tax savings. One significant disadvantage to using an FSA is th ...

, and by extension a health reimbursement account or health savings account as well. This in turn led to its invention of the first inventory information approval system (IIAS) in 2005; it wasn't used in brick-and-mortar retailing until 2006 by Walgreens. Under a 2006 Internal Revenue Service ruling, IIAS must be installed by every grocery store,

discount store A discount store or discounter offers a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down cost ...

, and Internet pharmacy that accepts FSA debit cards by the end of 2007, and by most chain pharmacies by the end of 2008. On December 27, 2009, Drugstore.com announced plans to acquire Salu Inc., the operator of SkinStore.com, for $36 million. The transaction completed on February 19, 2010. On March 24, 2011, Drugstore.com was acquired by Walgreens for $409 million. On July 28, 2016, Walgreens said it would shut down Drugstore.com and Beauty.com at the end of September, 2016, to focus on its own Walgreens.com website.Northwest Innovation,
Drugstore.com, Beauty.com To Be Shut Down By Walgreens
" July 28, 2016.

References

External links

Drugstore.com EDGAR Filing History

Drugstore.com website

Hoovers Fact Sheet
{{Walgreens Online retailers of the United States Retail companies established in 1999 Retail companies disestablished in 2016 Internet properties established in 1999 Internet properties disestablished in 2016 Defunct online companies of the United States 2011 mergers and acquisitions 1999 establishments in Washington (state) Walgreens Boots Alliance