Ex-Thrifty PayLess officials to work to improve Rite Aid

ATLANTA - Rite Aid, the No. 3 U.S. drugstore chain, hired two former Thrifty PayLess executives to oversee a new division formed to improve the performance of its 1,000 stores in the Western region.

Rite Aid, which acquired the Thrifty PayLess chain in December 1996, named former Thrifty Payless Senior Vice President Jim Hamilton as senior vice president of the Western region. Andy Striefel, former Thrifty PayLess merchandising chief, was named vice president of merchandising, Western region.

Rite Aid has struggled to improve sales at the former Thrifty PayLess chain and had been looking to sell up to 350 of its larger and less profitable stores on the West Coast. Last month, Rite Aid's new Chief Executive Robert Miller said the stores are no longer for sale.