Louis K. Liggett’s druggists’ cooperative adopted the brand name Rexall.
In 1903, Liggett persuaded 40 independent drugstores to invest in a retailers’ cooperative called United Drug Stores. The cooperative sold products under the Rexall name, allowing independent pharmacists to share purchasing power and market a common store brand.
The name came from “Rexall remedies,” a mark associated with Ellen M. Regis. “Rex” evokes the Latin word for king, helping give the products a memorable identity in a crowded medicine market. After World War I, independently owned drugstores adopted the Rexall trade name and operated within a franchise-like arrangement.
Rexall was not originally a single corporate pharmacy chain in the modern CVS sense. Thousands of local druggists operated their own stores while licensing the brand and selling Rexall products. The network later became nationally famous through advertising and promotions, including the 1936 Rexall Train, which toured the United States and Canada.