Rite Aid names former Walgreens exec as COO

Rite Aid Corp. appointed a Walgreens veteran to its executive team.



Rite Aid on Thursday named Kermit Crawford as president and COO, effective Oct. 5. Crawford enjoyed a long, 30-year career with Walgreens, most recently as executive VP and president of pharmacy health and wellness. Most recently, he served as a retail and healthcare adviser and consultant for Sycamore Partners, a New York City-based private equity firm.



“Kermit is a highly experienced retail pharmacy industry executive with exceptional leadership capabilities,” said Rite Aid chairman and CEO John Standley. “This is an especially important time for Rite Aid as we move forward as a stand-alone company within the retail chain drug and healthcare industries and I am extremely pleased to have such an innovative and well-respected senior executive joining our Rite Aid leadership team as we move forward to successfully drive our business."



During his more than 30 years with Walgreens, Crawford held a wide range of store operations and senior management positions, including responsibility for the company’s pharmacy services, which included its pharmacy benefit management services. When he retired from Walgreens in 2014, Crawford was executive VP and president of Walgreen’s pharmacy, health and wellness division, where he was responsible for all aspects of strategic, operational and financial management for the division.