Big B Drugs

Big B Drugs

Industry	Drugstore
Founded	1968
Defunct	1996
Fate	Acquired by Revco (1996)
Headquarters	Birmingham, Alabama

Big B, Inc. was a Birmingham, Alabama-based drugstore chain. The company began operation in 1968 as division of Birmingham based Bruno's Supermarkets. Most of its stores were located next to a Bruno's, Food World or FoodMax. Big B also operated a discount drugstore chain called Drugs For Less. The company had close to $800 million (~$1.44 billion in 2023) in revenue by the end of 1996.

In 1982, Big B was spun off from the Bruno's Supermarkets into an independent company, Big B, Inc., based in Bessemer, Alabama. In 1989, Big B acquired 85 Reed Drug and Lee Drug stores from Peoples Drug, giving them a presence in Atlanta, north Georgia and western Alabama. A few years later, Big B acquired 80 "Treasury Drug" stores from JCPenney's Thrift Drug division. Big B was finally becoming a major drug retailer in the Atlanta area.

In 1996, Big B was acquired by Revco, and within a year Revco was acquired by CVS. By the end of 1997, all Big B Drugs and Revco were operating as CVS/Pharmacy.

References

• Bruno's Supermarkets annual reports 1971-1983
• Big B, Inc. Annual Reports 1982-1995
• Imasco, Limited Annual Report 1986-1989