Content about Economy of the United States

NEW YORK and WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark has inked a three-year agreement with ActiveHealth Management, an independent subsidiary of Aetna, under which CVS Caremark will apply the evidence-based, clinical intelligence of the ActiveHealth CareEngine to healthcare claims for its PBM customers to identify opportunities for improved pharmacy care.

CVS Caremark will apply the CareEngine to more than 800,000 members beginning in April, with additional membership to be added as CVS Caremark consults with its PBM clients.

LAKELAND, Fla. — Publix on Tuesday disclosed a 4.4% increase in its fourth-quarter sales, which reached $6.4 billion, while comparable-store sales for the quarter also rose 3.2%.

Net earnings for the retailer totaled $342.1 million, compared with $284.2 million in the year-ago period, an increase of 20.4%. Earnings per share for the fourth quarter increased to 44 cents for 2010, up from 36 cents per share in 2009.

SALISBURY, N.C. — The push of private label at retail continues to gain momentum as Food Lion kicked off a promotion whereby shoppers can earn up to $10 in free groceries every time they buy private-brand products.

The promotion, dubbed the Private Brand Super Sale, begins March 2 and runs through March 29.

Each time customers shop at Food Lion during the Private Brand Super Sale and purchase at least four Food Lion or Home 360 products using their Food Lion MVP card, they earn a money-saving coupon.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — As previously announced and widely reported, March 1 marks the day that Larry Merlo officially assumes the role of CEO of CVS Caremark. Merlo, who now serves as president and CEO, succeeds Tom Ryan, who remains nonexecutive chairman until his retirement at the company's annual meeting of shareholders in May.

Upon Ryan's retirement as chairman in May, the company intends to elect CVS Caremark board member David Dorman as the next nonexecutive chairman at the 2011 annual meeting. Dorman has been on the CVS Caremark board of directors since 2006.

NEW YORK — The flu may drive consumers to bed, but drug store sales are expected to benefit from an increase in flu activity, according to a Credit Suisse research note.

Credit Suisse research analyst Edward Kelly on Monday noted that as Walgreens and Rite Aid would report their monthly sales on March 3, comparable pharmacy sales would be driven by increased flu activity.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — As Walgreens pays tribute to its store brand via hard-hitting ads that position its health-and-wellness products as the ones that its pharmacists recommend, CVS/pharmacy officially has unveiled its new Just the Basics private-label line — both developments that should serve as warning signs to vendors.

(THE NEWS: CVS/pharmacy's Just the Basics line makes debut. For the full story, click here)

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Mass merchandiser Kmart had sales of $4.99 billion during fourth quarter 2010 and $15.6 billion for the year as a whole, according to an earnings statement released Thursday by parent company Sears Holdings.

The sales for the quarter, which ended Jan. 29, were a slight improvement over fourth quarter 2009 sales of $4.92 billion, while the annual sales represented a decline in dollar terms from 2009’s $15.74 billion. Comparable-store sales for the year increased in percentage terms, by 0.7%, while quarterly sales increased by 2.5%.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Despite gains in its international sector, Walmart experienced its seventh straight quarterly sales decline in its U.S. stores division for the period ended Jan. 31.

Walmart said although sales at its international stores rose 27%, its U.S. store sales fell short of its own projections for the holiday period. Sales at U.S. Walmart stores fell 0.5% to $71.1 billion, and were down 1.8% on a comparable-store basis, the company said.

The CCR foundation has been laid. Now comes the next phase in Walgreens’ campaign to “enhance the customer experience.”


Customer Centric Retailing is rolling across the chain’s coast-to-coast store network like a tide. The effort — aimed at aligning Walgreens’ mix with what its customers really want from the stores; eliminating hundreds of redundant, slow-turning SKUs; and boosting front-end productivity — already has transformed more than 2,100 Walgreens stores. Another 3,400 are up for renovation by the end of this year.



McNeil Consumer Healthcare recently parlayed its Tylenol brand franchise into external analgesics to quite a bit of success. For the four weeks ended Dec. 26, 2010, Precise “from the makers of Tylenol” became the No. 3 best-selling heat patch, with $1.9 million in sales across food, drug and mass (excluding Walmart), according to Symphony­IRI Group. And its pain-relieving cream similarly broke in among the top-selling brands — No. 9 with $1.3 million in sales for the four-week period.

WASHINGTON — The Washington Post on Thursday morning tagged the Wegmans in Lanham, Md. — a suburb of Washington — as "Club Wegmans," the latest hot spot to meet singles.

And it’s not just singles. According to the article, “Singles hook up in front of bins of fresh produce; couples gather for dates in the grocery store's sit-down restaurant; and shoppers sway to music from overhead speakers, singing along with Prince, Luther Vandross and Teena Marie.”