Content about Chicago

CHICAGO — Retailers saw increased foot traffic this Black Friday, but that didn't generate higher sales, according to ShopperTrak, the world's largest counter of retail foot traffic.

According to ShopperTrak's analysis, when compared to Black Friday 2011, retail foot traffic rose 3.5%, to more than 307.67 million store visits. However, retail sales decreased 1.8%, with shoppers spending an estimated $11.2 billion on Friday, compared to $11.4 billion last year.

CHICAGO — Nurish Brands on Thursday launched Feel Natural Energy, a new energy drink available in Rexam 10.5-oz. Sleek cans.

CHICAGO — Electronic health record firm Allscripts may be looking at buyout offers from other companies, Allscripts CEO Glen Tullman said Thursday when the company announced its third-quarter 2012 earnings.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Coach K, the highest winning coach in NCAA Division One basketball, was named the keynote speaker for the 2013 Sweets & Snacks Expo, which is hosted by the National Confectioners Association on May 21-23 in Chicago.

As head coach of Duke University's Blue Devils for more than 30 years, Coach K has made a career of motivating people, on and off the court. He was named "America's Best Coach" of all coaches, in any sport, at any level of play in 2001 by TIME magazine and CNN.

CHICAGO — A study published Monday online by JAMA may skew the conversation over multivitamin use negatively, despite the fact that study authors maintain the study cannot be generalized across the general population given the study's subjects — namely, practicing physicians. 

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Ranir, a maker of consumer oral and personal healthcare products, is unveiling its rebranding at the PLMA’s 2012 Private Label Trade Show in Chicago Nov. 10 to 13.



WHEELING, Ill. — “When you create something for [our various retail concepts], you are creating a new experience and environment that makes us different than our competitive set. Exclusivity of the experience is a large differentiator.” That was a key message that keynote retail speaker Shannon Curtin, Walgreens divisional VP and GMM for beauty, personal care and seasonal, had for attendees of the latest Mack Elevation Forum.

CHICAGO — In a randomized trial that included nearly 15,000 male physicians and started in 1997, long-term daily multivitamin use resulted in a modest, but statistically significant, reduction in cancer after more than a decade of treatment and follow-up, according to a study appearing in JAMA that was released Wednesday. The multivitamin used in the study was Pfizer's Centrum Silver. 

In this exclusive interview with Drug Store News, Christina Hennington, divisional merchandising manager of beauty for Target, talks about the hottest trends in beauty and how Target is taking beauty to the next level.


DSN: What are some of the biggest trends you are seeing in beauty?


CHICAGO — Slightly more than one-quarter of shoppers anticipate they will be financially better off a year from now, up from the 22% who held this view one year ago, SymphonyIRI Group reported Tuesday in its second annual EconoLink survey. And 21% believe their financial positions will be worse a year from now, down from the nearly one-third of consumers who held that opinion last year at this time. 

CHICAGO — Are macro category pressures across tobacco and gas driving convenience stores toward healthier food options? That's a question raised by a recently published white paper from Nielsen.

CHICAGO — An online grocery delivery service is launching "virtual grocery stores" at commuter rail stations across the country.

Peapod.com, owned by the U.S. subsidiary of Dutch supermarket operator Royal Ahold, announced it would launch more than 100 of the virtual grocery stores at commuter rail stations in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, New Jersey and Connecticut. Commuters in the markets Peapod serves spend an hour in transit to and from work each day, according to Census data.