NEW YORK — Drug chains across the country and in Canada are stepping up their promotional efforts this holiday season, offering everything from sophisticated catalogs and in-store flyers to money-saving programs. CVS Caremark Corp., for example, recently mailed out an 84-page catalog offering deals on hundreds of products and ways to earn Extra Bucks from
TORONTO — “In transition,” “crisis,” “opportunity,” “danger,” “a new paradigm”: Those were the words and phrases that were liberally sprinkled through the remarks of 10 speakers who, in an intense six-hour session, addressed the delegates to the 2009 Innovation In Pharmacy conference here earlier this month. Organized by the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores
TORONTO — Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM) will seek to expand in British Columbia and other provinces that compensate pharmacies for stepping up their role in the health care system. President and chief executive officer Jürgen Schreiber stated the company’s view as Ontario mulls regulations that could hurt pharmacy profits. “We see some provinces that are
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores has expressed concerns with a proposed amendment to health care legislation because the provision would authorize the importation of prescription drugs. NACDS sent a letter to Rep. Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D., N.Y.), who chairs the House Rules Committee, and to Rep. David Drier (R., Calif.),
WASHINGTON — The number of retail health clinics in chain drug stores and other venues grew about 15% in the last two years, according to a report by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. But Deloitte also says retail clinic market growth will slow to as little as 10% from next year through 2012 before
BELLEVUE, Wash. — Acknowledging the nearly 35 million Americans who have flexible spending accounts (FSAs) to cover their health care expenses, and who run the risk of losing their unused balances if they do not spend the funds by the end of the year, drugstore.com is highlighting a one-stop shopping web site that makes it
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark Corp. will be able to provide its pharmacy benefits management clients additional genetic services beginning in 2010 under a deal with Generation Health Inc. The agreement, under which CVS Caremark is taking a minority stake in privately held Generation Health, will expand pharmacogenomic clinical and testing services. Such initiatives can
WASHINGTON — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores earlier this month told House subcommittees assessing the nation’s plans for distributing the H1N1 flu vaccine that the country’s drug stores can play a crucial role in ensuring that a maximum number of patients receive immunizations. “Community pharmacies are uniquely capable of immunizing large numbers of
With 2009 winding down, the time has come to list the most memorable events of the year in chain drug retailing. Herewith, seven such events: • The remaking of Walgreens. Seldom in the annals of chain drug retailing has a retailer apparently at or near the top of its game so drastically and dramatically reversed
The day before the Senate leadership unveiled an $848 billion bill that will be the focal point of the next phase of the health care reform debate, all of the members of Congress received a timely reminder about the importance of including measures to improve medication compliance in whatever legislation is ultimately enacted. Twenty-seven organizations
The most significant development in chain drug retailing this year has been its willingness, finally, to begin to unleash the power of the pharmacist and the pharmacy that supports him. Walgreens’ brilliant decision to begin offering flu shots in September, while both tradition and the mass retailing community determined that October was the ideal month
Duane Reade, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2010, is a fixture on the retail scene in New York City. For most of its history, the company had the chain drug sector here pretty much to itself, building its presence with a scrappy brand of retailing well suited to the special characteristics of the
MONTEREY, Calif. — CVS Caremark Corp. has completed the conversion of nearly 500 Longs Drug Stores in California, Nevada and Arizona to the CVS banner and format. CVS executives marked the occasion recently at an outlet in Monterey, Calif., showing off the changes consumers will see in the revamped store. “We’ve kept the best of
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Despite record third quarter sales and profits, CVS Caremark Corp. forecast disappointing results for its pharmacy benefits management business next year, based on the loss of a net of $4.8 billion in contracts. The 2010 operating profit of the Caremark PBM business will drop as much as 10% to 12%, chairman, president
