Brooks is adept at assimilating acquisitions. (The World's 10 Best Drug Chains).(Jean Coutu Group Inc.'s purchase of Brooks Pharmacy proves successful for drugstore)

LONGUEUIL, Quebec -- Jean Coutu Group Inc. entered the United States market through acquisition, and its further growth has been dependent on both major purchases of chains and the slower, but also meaningful, continuing acquisition of individually owned pharmacies. One of the features of the company's success in the U.S. has been its ability to rather rapidly integrate its acquisitions into its systems and its culture.

The retailer's first U.S. purchase, in 1900, was the six-store Douglas Drug chain operating in Rhode Island. In 1994 Coutu made a much bigger acquisition of Brooks Pharmacy, then operating 221 outlets, from Revco D.S. In the current year it purchased …