Wednesday, May 01, 2002

CornerDrugstore.com is a premier online retail pharmacy website, with over 800 independent and regional chain pharmacy customers from across the country. Pharmacies use CornerDrugstore.com to extend their local store and information services to the Internet where their customers can order prescription refills and over-the-counter products in addition to getting answers to their health, drug, and disease information questions.

J M Smith CEO Bill Cobb said that CornerDrugstore.com is a good fit with J M Smith's other products and services. "We have over 55 years of experience in the pharmacy industry, from wholesale drug distribution to advanced computer technologies. And we believe that online retailing will continue to grow in the pharmacy industry as it has in other retail environments."

SymRx CEO Tom Menighan expressed confidence in the benefits of this acquisition for CornerDrugstore.com. "The long-term interests of our pharmacy customers will be well served by this acquisition," said Menighan. "The future of CornerDrugstore.com is in great hands."

CornerDrugstore.com was created by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA). "When NCPA began work on the CornerDrugstore.com concept, it was with the goal of creating a virtual network of independent pharmacies across the nation," said Bruce Roberts, executive vice president and CEO of NCPA. "We remain committed to that goal. We believe that J M Smith Corporation has the resources to execute the CornerDrugstore.com initiative, and we are pleased that the company has committed to maintaining a software system neutral platform for CornerDrugstore.com."

J M Smith Corporation, founded in 1944, is one of South Carolina's Top 10 privately held companies, employing over 650 people throughout North America. J M Smith companies include QS/1 Data Systems, Smith Drug Company, Smith Data Processing, and Smith Premier Services.