Nov. 9--The completion last month of Walnut Creek-based Longs Drug Stores' $2.7 billion sale to CVS Caremark Corp. brings to a close the company's 70-year history that started with the opening of its first store on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland in 1938.

Longs, which began in a day when self-service drug stores were a novelty, grew to 521 stores in four western states over the course of its corporate run. The sale was spurred in part by tightening margins in its niche of regional operators, a problem it largely avoided during its long era of expansion, which started slowly in the 1940's, gathered momentum in the '50s and '60s and continued in the decades that followed.

"The most distinctive thing (about Longs) was that the stores were empowered to fashion their selections to the local neighborhoods and that was their advantage over some of the chains," said Mark Holz, the company's vice president of investor relations. "It's something we have done to this day. Up in Truckee, we have a significant (outdoors) sporting goods section. Beach communities carry boogie boards."

During its era of growth, Longs successfully made the transition from small stores to large stores, downtown locations to the suburbs and from standalone locations on city streets to strip malls, and eventually to a presence on the Internet.

After starting in Oakland, founding brothers Joe and Tom Long added locations in Alameda and San Jose, before expanding

inland to Fresno and Bakersfield. As the suburbs grew, the company eventually added more than 100 stores in Bay Area alone. A strong interest in Hawaii led to the founding of a store in Honolulu in 1954, a presence that eventually grew to 40 locations in the islands.

Adding on

Longs also grew by acquisition, buying Bill's Drugs in Northern California, Drug Emporium, Washington-based Western Drug Distributors and 38 Rite-Aid stores.

The chain had a pioneering role in the development of the modern pharmacy as well as mass marketing of cosmetics, film sales and photo processing services, the growth of private label products and the expansion into garden, automotive and recreational merchandise.

The company went public in 1961 and shifted its headquarters from Oakland to its current location on Civic Drive in Walnut Creek, where there was more room for expansion, in 1972.

The Longs brothers' roots in Northern California and in retail sales weren't an accident.

The brothers were the sons of Edward Long, who operated a general store in Covelo in Mendocino County from 1911 to 1928.