Katz sells last of U.S. stores

From the Edmonton Journal:
The Katz Group is selling its remaining 25 Snyders Drug Stores in Minnesota to Walgreens, ending its 11-year foray into the U.S.

A "significant number" of the stores will be closed, and the rest rebranded as Walgreens.

The Katz Group, under current Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz, bought the Minnetonka-based Snyders in 1999 when it had 1,600 employees and 141 company-owned and independent stores in six Midwest states.

There were 55 stores in Minneapolis and St. Paul alone.

But only two years later, Snyders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

It emerged in 2003 with the 80-year-old Snyders name intact, but had to liquidate its Drug Emporium chain. ...more