The first store was founded in 1938 as Longs Self-Service Drugs, by brothers
Thomas and Joseph Long, with a loan from Joseph's father-in-law
Marion Barton Skaggs, co-founder of
Safeway Inc. The brothers opened their first store on
Piedmont Avenue in
Oakland, California. The company incorporated as Longs Stores in 1946. The first Longs in Hawaii opened on March 29, 1954, in Honolulu. In 1961, the company started using the Longs Drug Stores name and was first listed on the
NASDAQ. The chain's 50th store opened in 1970. By 1971, Longs reported sales of $169 million (~$ in ) from its 54 stores and was publicly listed on the
New York Stock Exchange. by 1975, the chain had 82 stores. The company expanded to Alaska in 1977, Arizona and Oregon in 1978, and Nevada in 1979. By 1982, Longs had 162 stores and exceeded $1 billion (~$ in ) in sales. In 1987, Longs acquired 11
Osco drugstores in
California and one in
Colorado. They also sold 15 stores in
Arizona to Osco. Their sales passed $2 billion (~$ in ) for the first time in 1990. Responding to increased competition, Longs implemented a point of sale scanning system in 1992 and centralized the pharmacy business and set standardized chain-wide pricing. In 1993, Longs purchased Bill's Drugs, a 20-store chain located in Northern California, for $23.9 million (~$ in ). That same year, Longs also acquired six Thrifty PayLess stores in Hawaii. Following the acquisition of
Genovese by
Eckerd in November, Longs remained the last family-controlled drug chain in the country.
Rite Aid sold 38 stores located in California to Longs for $150 million (~$ in ) in October 1999, which were all former
PayLess Drug locations. Long retired as CEO in 2000, the first time a member of the founding family was no longer leading the company. In 2002, Warren F. Bryant was named the company's new CEO. Long retired as chairman in 2003 and Bryant replaced him. Under new management, Longs slashed corporate 170 corporate jobs, centralized buying and distribution, installed automated drug dispensers, and remodeled aging stores. In January 2007, Longs also purchased four stores from
PharMerica. In March 2007, Longs Drugs announced it would be closing 31 stores in four Western states. The closures would eliminate its presence in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon. It opened the first retail-based medical clinic in Hawaii at the end of the year. In 2007, Walgreens planned an expansion into Hawaii. As a result, Longs opened six new stores in the market that year., USA. Note sign announcing
CVS/pharmacy coming soon.
Acquisition by CVS On August 12, 2008,
CVS announced that it would acquire the Longs Drugs chain of 521 stores to expand its presence on the West Coast, and gain access to the Northern California and Hawaii markets. CVS Health paid a total of $2.54 billion to acquire all outstanding shares of Longs Drugs. On September 12, 2008,
Walgreens stepped in with an offer representing a $3.50 (~$ in ) per share premium over the cash purchase price offered by CVS. However, most of Longs' shareholders rejected the offer, citing regulation concerns. Walgreens dropped its offer on October 8, allowing CVS' deal to progress. On October 29, CVS had secured 78.07% of Longs shares, and Longs was merged into CVS the next day on October 30. Following the merger, the Longs corporate offices were shut down and 800 employees were let go. In 2011, CVS closed the flagship superstore on 5100 Broadway in Oakland, CA, due to property redevelopment plans.
Continuation in Hawaii At the time of the acquisition, Longs had 39 stores in Hawaii. The Longs Drugs name was kept in the Hawaiian market "because of its high name recognition and the geographical separation." In an effort to combat Walgreens' expansion in Hawaii, CVS began a statewide expansion in 2010, with many new locations within a mile of an existing Longs Drugs. In July 2010, Longs opened the island's first full-size drive-through pharmacy in
Pearl City. In 2014, CVS opened one new store in Honolulu and another in
Kapa'a. Starting in April 2014, Longs started requiring customers to sign up for CVS Extracare cards to receive sale prices. In 2015, CVS acquired 10 Mina Pharmacy locations in Hawaii, and announced plans to operate six of them under the Longs Pharmacy name. However, CVS closed two 'underperforming' stores in Honolulu in 2019. In 2022, the company closed two locations in Honolulu, one in
Hilo, and another in
Wahiawa. In June 2024, the company announced the closure of its
Ewa Beach location. The Longs store in
Ward Village closed in June 2025. ==Longs in popular culture==