[1] However, Brooks faced many difficulties between 2004 and 2006, as Jean Coutu struggled unsuccessfully to integrate 1,500 Eckerd stores acquired from J.C. Penney with the existing Brooks network, resulting in a steady loss of market share and lagging same-store sales as CVS and Walgreens continued to expand and solidify their store base in the New England region.

In 1984, Pantry Pride, a Florida-based supermarket chain, acquired the Adams Drug Company, which then consisted of about 400 stores throughout the Northeast.

The following year, all of Pantry Pride's assets, including Adams, were acquired by corporate raider Ronald Perelman's Revlon subsidiary.

For a period of time, ownership of Brooks was continually transferred between different Perelman-owned subsidiaries, including California-based Compact Video.

As a result, that same year, Revco sold all of the New England Brooks stores to the Quebec-based Jean Coutu Group, which had already been operating stores in Rhode Island and Massachusetts under the Maxi Drug and Douglas Drug trade names through its U.S. subsidiary, The Jean Coutu Group (PJC) USA, Inc.

Shortly after the Osco acquisition, President Michel Coutu made a commitment to significantly increase the size of the chain by the year 2004.

The acquisition included 1,854 stores, six distribution centers, and made Rite Aid the largest drugstore chain on the East Coast.

To comply with FTC antitrust regulations, some Brooks/Eckerd locations within a mile of a Rite Aid store were sold to another pharmacy company, such as CVS/pharmacy or Walgreens, or were closed.

The company previously responsible for operating the Brooks chain, The Jean Coutu Group (PJC) USA, Inc., along with Eckerd Corporation, remained active in-name-only subsidiaries of Rite Aid, as shown in the latter company's October 2023 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings, despite the conversion of the Brooks and Eckerd chains in 2007 and the sale of Coutu's remaining shares in Rite Aid 10 years prior.