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BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Kellogg's president, CEO and company director David Mackay announced that he will retire from his post, effective Jan. 1.

The announcement is part of Kellogg's succession plan, which named current COO and board member John Bryant — who joined Kellogg in 1998 — as the company's new president and CEO. Mackay will work closely with Bryant to ensure a smooth transition through March 31, 2011, the company said.

NEW YORK — Consumers see smart phones as future personal, coupon-clipping shopper assistants, a global survey released Monday by Accenture found. According to the survey, 79% of smart-phone users would find it useful to download money-off coupons to their phones, and 73% of those shoppers would be receptive to being pinged with instant money-off coupons as they passed by an item in a store.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Community pharmacists still are among the nation’s most trusted professionals.

IRVINGTON, N.Y. — Prestige Brands Holdings on Thursday named Ron Lombardi its new CFO, effective Dec. 6. The position had been vacated by the retirement of Pete Anderson.

“[Lombardi] is a results-oriented financial professional whose extensive background in business development, acquisitions and divestitures, and debt and equity structuring will serve Prestige well as we move into our next phase of growth following our recent acquisition of Blacksmith Brands,” stated Matthew Mannelly, Prestige president and CEO.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens saw a rise in sales across the board for the month of November and fiscal first quarter 2011, the drug store chain said Friday.

Total sales for the chain rose 8.6% to $5.83 billion in November, with 2.8 percentage points contributed by Duane Reade stores. Comparable-store sales for the month also saw a gain of 3.2%, although comps results do not include Duane Reade sales. Total sales for the quarter saw a strong gain of 5.9% to $17.33 billion, as comparable-store sales increased 0.8%.

NEW YORK — Industry veteran Bob Kwait, chairman and COO of Bob Kwait Consulting Group, and FreshDirect chairman and CEO Richard Braddock were honored Wednesday during the 2010 Consumer Products "Good Scout" Award Luncheon in New York.

The annual luncheon, presented by the Greater New York Councils of Boy Scouts of America, was held at Hilton New York.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Shortly after testing its PYNK system in CVS/pharmacy locations in the Westchester County, N.Y., area, Kodak officially is rolling out the photo kiosks at 5,000 CVS/pharmacy stores nationwide.

The Kodak PYNK photo kiosk gives photo enthusiasts the capability to create various projects with its "print-to-fit" system. New to the mix is a photo collage option, which takes out the time-consuming work of selecting, cropping and printing photos for a collage display, the company said.

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., and BEVERLY, Mass. (Dec. 2) Merck announced on Thursday it has inked a deal to acquire an insulin maker.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Kodak is introducing a new innovation that provides consumers with ways to give greeting cards a personal touch.

Kodak's new personal greeting cards give consumers a variety of ways to quickly customize and print personal cards in seconds at select in-store Kodak picture kiosks nationwide. Customers can create cards in three easy steps:

• Touch the screen on the kiosk;

• Select an occasion and the preferred style of the card; and

• Begin the personalization process.

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — The president of drug maker Merck now will fill an additional position at the company: CEO.

Merck's board of directors elected president and board member Kenneth Frazier as the company's next leader, effective Jan. 1. Frazier will succeed Richard Clark, who has served as Merck's CEO since 2005. Clark will continue as chairman of the board, the drug maker said.

GURGAON, India, and PRINCETON, N.J. — Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals has received final approval for its generic Alzheimer's drug from the Food and Drug Administration, giving the drug maker 180 days of market exclusivity.

Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Ranbaxy Labs, will manufacture and market donepezil hydrochloride tablets, a generic version of Aricept, in the 5-mg and 10-mg strength in the United States.

WASHINGTON — This Black Friday weekend proved to be a help to retailers, as shopper traffic and spending both increased, the National Retail Federation said.

While 212 million shoppers visited stores and websites this weekend, up from 195 million shoppers last year, the average shopper spend totaled $365.34 this weekend, a 6.4% increase from last year. Total spending reached an estimated $45 billion, NRF said.