Happy Harry's was an American

drugstore A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmaci ...

chain that was merged into

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 ...

starting in 2006. Happy Harry's operated 76 locations in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. It was founded in 1962 by entrepreneur Harry Levin. It was announced on June 5, 2006 that the chain had agreed to be acquired by Walgreens.

History

In 1962, Harry Levin opened his first store in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

simply called "Discount Center". He quickly gained a reputation for his always-cheerful disposition, and customers soon simply referred to his store as "Happy's". In 1965, upon opening his third store, the name of the chain was changed to "Happy Harry's Discount Drugs". Just before the company's 25th anniversary in 1987, "Happy Harry" died and his son, Alan Levin, took over the growing company. At the time, Happy Harry's was the largest drugstore chain in Delaware and soon grew to 76 stores.

Acquisition and closure

On June 5, 2006, Happy Harry's announced that it would be acquired by Walgreens. The announcement of the acquisition was surprising for Walgreens, whose approach differs most notably from its competitors when it comes to growth. Walgreens expansion is fueled primarily by opening new, freestanding, locations with drive-thru pharmacies, and occasionally by quiet acquisitions of small pharmacies, rather than expanding through mergers and public acquisitions.Walgreens press facts
However, with little presence in Happy Harry's primary market, the addition of Happy Harry's was a valuable new resource for Walgreens to leverage in its continuing expansion. Initially, Walgreens decided to keep the Happy Harry's name on its existing stores. However, the eight stores in Pennsylvania were revamped as standard stores due to Walgreens' stronger branding there. Happy Harry's remained open in Delaware, but was modified to read "Happy Harry's, a Walgreens Pharmacy." These stores went through significant interior and exterior modifications to conform to Walgreens standards for product display, store arrangement, and pharmacy design. Task forces from various Walgreens districts around the country were mobilized to convert the various store systems to the Walgreens equivalents. The most important conversion was for the pharmacy, whose computer system was changed to Walgreens homegrown Intercom Plus pharmacy computer software, along with the installation of satellite equipment, which linked each pharmacy with over 7,000 other Walgreens pharmacies in the continental United States,

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. This enabled Happy Harry's customers to have prescriptions refilled and records retrieved at any Walgreens pharmacy nationwide. In April 2011, the last Happy Harry's pharmacies, in the Wilmington-area, were converted to Walgreens, with no remains of Happy Harry's.

References

External links

Happy Harry's website (archived)Happy Harry's website
at Walgreens.com (

archived An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

)
Harry Levin Center for Pharmacy & History
in

Smyrna, Delaware Smyrna is a town in Kent and New Castle counties in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is part of the Dover, Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the Census Bureau, as of 2010, the population of the town is 10,023. The international ...

{{Walgreens Defunct pharmacies of the United States Defunct companies based in Delaware Companies based in Wilmington, Delaware American companies established in 1962 Retail companies established in 1962 Retail companies disestablished in 2006 1962 establishments in Delaware 2006 disestablishments in Delaware Health care companies based in Delaware 2006 mergers and acquisitions Walgreens Boots Alliance