Thrifty PayLess
| Company type | Holding company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail/Pharmacy |
| Predecessor | (merger of) PayLess Drug Stores (and) Thrifty Corporation |
| Founded | April 1994 (as Thrifty PayLess Holdings, Inc.) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Defunct | October 15, 1996 (as Thrifty PayLess Holdings, Inc.) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Fate | Acquired by Rite Aid |
| Successors | Rite Aid |
Number of locations | 1,000+ |
Area served | California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho |
| Services | Pharmacy, Liquor, Cosmetics, Health and Beauty Aids, General Merchandise, Snacks, 1-Hour Photo |
Thrifty PayLess Holdings, Inc. was a pharmacy holding company that owned the Thrifty Drugs and PayLess Drug Stores chains in the western United States. The combined company was formed in April 1994 when Los Angeles–based TCH Corporation, the parent company of Thrifty Corporation and Thrifty Drug Stores, Inc., acquired the Kmart subsidiary PayLess Drug Stores Northwest, Inc. At the time of the merger, TCH Corporation was renamed Thrifty PayLess Holdings, Inc. and Thrifty operated 495 stores, PayLess operated 543 stores.
In 1996, Rite Aid acquired 1,000 West Coast stores from Thrifty PayLess Holdings, creating a chain with over 3,500 drug stores.
Thrifty PayLess, Inc. remained an active subsidiary of Rite Aid (owning stores purchased from Thrifty PayLess), as shown in the company's October 2023 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings.
On May 5, 2025, Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in 2 years, listing assets and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion. Rite Aid will sell all of its assets as part of its procedure, as it overcomes financial challenges such as debt, increased competition, and inflation, including Thrifty PayLess.