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Walgreens and Televisa Consumer Products announced an expansion of their distribution across Walgreens with the inclination to share additional insights into the Hispanic community. Televisa's product portfolio spans from beauty items in haircare and skincare to OTC solutions in the cough/cold and pain relief categories.

Did you ever wonder what would happen if a broadcaster dabbled in the consumer packaged goods world? Would they be able to drive trial at an exponentially cheaper rate because they could flood their own airwaves with in-house commercials and product placements? Maybe. In the U.S. market it'd be difficult and becoming ever more so given the continued fracturing of media outlets. Network television operations today have to contend with hundreds of cable/satellite channels that are each creating their own content, not to mention relatively new primetime competitors like the Internet or mobile apps. In other words, it'd be difficult to reach a critical mass of viewers and at the same time substitute paid product placements with in-house (in other words not paid) product placements in the U.S. media marketplace.

Duane Reade experienced nearly a 20% boost in sales of its private label hosiery thanks to a seven-week social media campaign dubbed “Show Us Some Leg,” according to a published report.
The important takeaway here is that the success of this campaign speaks to the overall importance of engaging consumers beyond the walls of the bricks-and-mortar store.

Walgreens' Arkansas Payment Improvement Initiative aims to create a more patient-centered and cost-efficient payment system for the retailer's home state.

The latest move by Walmart is as sure an indication as any that health care is becoming less about fee-for-service and more about basing compensation on ratings derived from patient outcomes.

After 20 years at the helm, Safeway CEO Steve Burd last week announced his retirement to spend more time with family and pursue interests in health care.

Following the "People’s Choice Awards," Walgreens is celebrating its involvement in the awards by hosting “Night at the W” events at its stores nationwide on Jan. 10.

The “Night at the W,” which leverages the expertise of its beauty advisers, is yet another example of how the pharmacy retailer is elevating the beauty experience at mass. And the event is an ideal way to promote its beauty advisers.

Rite Aid last week posted a third quarter profit of $61.9 million, marking the first time Rite Aid has been back in the quarterly black since June 2007. The quarterly report beat analyst expectations as the generic wave and retention of Express Scripts customers helped drive better-than-expected adjusted EBIDTA.

It's certainly a timely Christmas gift that Rite Aid delivered to those shareholders who believed in the Pennsylvania pharmacy operation when it's stock hovered around $1 per share; in the week following the third quarter conference call Rite Aid's stock price was up some 40%.

A new survey by Wolters Kluwer Health indicated that a large majority of consumers think it's a good thing that more individuals are taking a larger and more active role in their own health care.

This should come as no surprise, as recent years have seen tremendous growth in things like electronic personal health records, mobile apps and use of social media. It also ties in with trends in the devolution of health care to the consumer level, such as retail clinics.

Inc. magazine named Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy as one of the country's top 100 job creators as part of the business magazine's inaugural Hire Power Awards. Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy cracked the list at No. 94 with the addition of 233 new positions over the past three years and came in at No. 5 in the company's home state of Michigan.

But though the company comes in at No. 94 on 'Inc.''s list, measured up against the likes of IT Services juggernaut GoDaddy.com or the rapidly growing fast-food chain Colorado Smashburger, Diplomat Specialty is a bellwether all the same — specialty pharmacy is and will be the catalyst for growth in the retail pharmacy industry.

Walgreens last Wednesday reported November sales of $5.9 billion, a decrease of 3.9% versus the same period last year.

A recent survey found a significant increase in the number of U.S. adults who have visited a retail clinic in recent years. The growth is attributed to a rise in the number of clinics nationwide, as well patients’ positive response to the convenience and lower cost of such clinic locations.

The findings come as little surprise and one should expect to see increased usage going forward. Why? Because health care is becoming increasingly consumer-centric as patients not only battle rising health care costs but also a growing shortage of primary care physicians. Patients want — need — convenient, high-quality health care services that are also cost effective. Convenient care clinics are increasingly illustrating the important role they play within the U.S. healthcare system.

It's only fitting that Walgreens placed its 8,000th store opening among the stars of Hollywood. It's not only a stellar achievement in and of itself, but the company's latest flagship store — and the first one on the West Coast — continues to emphasize Walgreens' out-of-this-world approach to drug store retailing.

Except you can't really call it drug store retailing, anymore. Not really. Because the other reason Hollywood is an appropriate backdrop to Walgreens' West Coast flagship is the fact that Walgreens has effectively transformed its big-box stage into a retail theater where each new grand location portrays a little of that flair in each new urban setting. That was evident in its second flagship store along Broadway in New York with its museum chronologically picturing those who have been honored in the Canyon of Heroes. And it's also evident in the second placement of a Walgreens' flagship store in Chicago.

More than 80 RediClinic employees and their families lost a total of 700 lbs. while participating in a companywide competition modeled after its Weigh Forward weight loss program.

Experience will make these providers better coaches for patients who sign up for the program. Aside from putting Rediclinic in place to battle one of the most chronic conditions in America — obesity — it also is creating important bonds between patients and practitioners.