Drug store comparison 2006

[coupondink]

So I decided to do a little comparison of the drugstores in my area.

Here is a comparison of 5 drugstores in my area, and my personal experience with them in 2006.

For the most part, I usually only purchase items in these stores that are free after rebate. My scrips are mail order, which is cheaper. OOP includes amount spent oop, including tax, postage, impulse buys, necessary buys, etc. OOP is amount spent after sale, coupon, and store rebate, and manuf rebate. This number includes a deduction for coupons on FAR items that create a profit. For ex: Zantac is FAR $4.99, but I have a coupon that makes is -$1, a $1 profit.

Here goes!

2006
riteaid oop -6.61
riteaid rebates 712.62
walgreens oop -108.52
walgreens rebates 644.8
duane reade oop -54.42
duane reade rebates 95.79
eckerd oop 8.31
eckerd rebates 148.96
cvs oop 1.76
cvs rebates 0

As you can see, Riteaid beats all stores hands down with its fantastic Single Check Rebate program. Walgreens is a close second with its EasySaver Rebates. Duane Reade is sorry missed in 2007, as they discontinued their fine rebate program. My rebate savings were a third the size of Walgreens, but I only discovered their program halfway through 2006 so maybe that had something to do with it? Duane reade rebates rocked- they had a limit of SIX for everything.
Eckerd should be ashamed of itself with its pathetic rebate program. Maybe that is why they went out of business...bought out by the Queen of Rebates, Riteaid. I read all about how CVS rocks, but I just can't seem to get into it...which is a shame since they are 8 blocks from my house. I usually wind up with a fistful of ECB that I can't seem to spend fast enough...and shelves of out of stock offerings. Someday I will try to delve into CVS again, but for now I find it too complicated and time consuming.

My personal fav is Riteaid, because their SCR allows you to use rainchecks..so out of stock is never a problem. Also online submission is sweet.

Thought y'all would find this side by side comparison a little interesting!