Walgreens has announced plans to acquire two worksite health centers — Pennsylvania-based I-trax and Ohio-based Whole Health Management — and to fold them, along with existing Walgreens in-store clinics, into a new Walgreens Health and Wellness division. When the transactions close, Walgreens will operate more than 500 worksite and retail health centers in 40 states. [...]
Since supermarket sales are down for magazines, wholesalers are finding alternative venues where the demand for magazines is strong. Places such as Costco and Sam’s Club and other clubs are a great place to sell monthlies. And dollar stores, like Dollar General, sell a good amount celebrity weeklies. One reason magazines tend to do well in [...]
Come the middle of February, the four Kroger-division Dillon stores will be sold to the Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG), who in turn will re-sell them to independent operators in the local market. The locations are food-and-drug combination stores in Olathe and Shawnee, KS, and Pleasant Hill, MO. Supermarket News (Jan. 30, 2008)
Quick & Simple editor-in-chief, Susan Toepfer, said in a statement, “This year’s award winners provide creative solutions for common problems women face.” She said the winners are based on innovation and the ability to make the lives of Quick & Simple readers easier and simpler. The list is mostly comprised of the best and most-affordable [...]
Rite Aid Corp. will close its 28 Las Vegas area stores, leaving its Gardernerville store, near the California border, as its only location in the state of Nevada. The retrenchment is part of the company’s strategy to focus on “core” U.S. markets. Rite Aid Press Release (Jan. 4, 2008) The Wall Street Journal Subscription required. [...]
Shares of all three retailers feel sharply on the news. Walgreen Company’s same-store sales for the month rose 2.6% over prior years — the smallest rise in at least 16 years and well below Wall Street’s 5% target. The December same-store number breaks down into a 3.3% rise for pharmacy sales and 1.7% for general [...]
The increase over the prior-year period was less than expected, which the retailer attributed to adverse weather, a light flu season to date and general economic conditions. Fourth quarter, same-store sales rose 3.4% over prior year (up 3.6% for the pharmacy and up 2.9% for the front end). Dow Jones Newswires (Jan. 3, 2008)
Same-store sales in total for the four-week period ending December 29 were essentially flat — down 0.5% from prior year. Total drugstore sales for the period increased 47.5% to $2.201 billion, due largely to the company’s Brooks Eckerd store acquisitions. Dow Jones Newswires (Jan. 3, 2008)
Excluding its recently-acquired Brooks and Eckerd operations, Rite Aid’s sales were up 0.9% for the month and 0.7% for the quarter, both compared to the prior year periods. Drug Store News (Dec. 6, 2007)
Active Interest Media recently announced that it will begin custom-publishing a new magazine, Feel Better, for Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, the Boulder, Co.-based, drug chain that describes itself as “…committed to health as a patient-practitioner partnership involving body, mind and spirit.” The premiere issue is due in March 2008. Circulation Management (Dec. 3, 2007)