DEERFIELD, Ill. — Fourth quarter net income surged more than 85% at Walgreen Co. as the company rebounded strongly from a year-ago quarter that was severely impacted by weak sales, costs related to its purchase of a stake in Alliance Boots GmbH and a big LIFO charge. Despite the impressive finish to fiscal 2013, management
CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid Corp. aims to have about a quarter of its store base converted to its “wellness store” format by the close of its current fiscal year next March. The drug chain reached a milestone during its fiscal 2014 second quarter by opening its 1,000th wellness store remodel, company executives said
BRAMPTON, Ontario — Mark Butler has been named Loblaw Cos.’ executive vice president of integration with responsibility for planning the supermarketer’s assimilation of Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM). A 37-year Loblaws veteran, Butler was most recently executive vice president of the conventional division. Subject to the completion of Loblaws’ acquisition of SDM following review by Canada’s
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark Corp. has named Nancy-Ann DeParle, a former top aide to President Barack Obama on the health care overhaul, to its board of directors. DeParle, 56, will be an independent director serving on the board’s audit committee. She worked in the Obama administration from 2009 until January of this year, first
SEATTLE — Bartell Drugs is opening one of its largest stores ever in the Puget Sound area. The store, a 16,085-square-foot unit in the city’s Greenwood section, opened for business on October 13 and offers a broader merchandise mix than most other Bartell Drug outlets. A grand opening event is scheduled for October 26. Executives
The announcement last month that Walgreens had agreed to acquire Kerr Drug, the 76-store, Raleigh, N.C.-based drug chain, disrupted chain drug retailing as few previous acquisitions had done. It wasn’t the size of the deal that caused such a stir. Numerically, this was but a small example of the consolidation the chain drug industry has
New research that examines customer satisfaction with pharmacy operators contains some revealing insights. The studies, conducted separately by J.D. Power and Market Force Information, identify favorites among consumers and point to broader industrywide trends. Based on a survey of 13,500 customers, J.D. Power’s report contains good news for traditional community pharmacies: The competitive threat posed
HOBOKEN, N.J. — A new Rite Aid Corp. program aims to help customers find their way through the changing health benefits landscape ushered in by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Left to right: Sen. Robert Menendez, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Rite Aid CEO John Standley at the drug chain’s Hoboken, N.J., store. Starting October 1,
LAS VEGAS — Appearing at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Total Store Expo last month, Jim Collins, the noted business consultant and author of such books as "Good to Great," "Built to Last" and "How the Mighty Fall," talked about what is required to make a business into a preeminent company over the
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. is acquiring Kerr Drug, a pioneer of the patient-centered model of pharmacy. In buying Kerr month, Walgreens gained a chain that earned widespread attention in recent years for shedding the product-centered pharmacy model. Instead, Kerr focused on monitoring patients after a diagnosis, thereby boosting medication adherence and improving outcomes. The
PLYMOUTH, Minn. — Patients enrolled in Thrifty White Pharmacy’s Medication Synchronization (Med Sync) program spend more days on their drug therapy than other patients do, a new analysis shows. That in turn improves their health outcomes and reduces overall health care costs. Thrifty White launched Med Sync company-wide in 2011, and a year later the
ORLANDO, Fla. — As she tours the nation to help people grasp new health insurance benefits from the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is highlighting the role played by pharmacies. In a visit this month to a CVS/pharmacy here, the HHS chief helped CVS Caremark Corp. president and chief
WASHINGTON — Battle lines were drawn as the October 1 opening of the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges approached. House Republicans voted in late September to defund the ACA as part of a stopgap spending plan to let the federal government keep operating. The vote was 230 to 189, with two Democrats joining the
NEW YORK — Community pharmacies can congratulate themselves on sustaining a high level of customer satisfaction with pharmacists and pharmacy staff, according to the Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmacy Satisfaction Pulse Survey. Looking ahead, though, the challenge for the industry will be to maintain and improve that performance when millions of Americans will gain health coverage next
