Content about Florida

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Dietary supplement maker Livethesource has named Simply the Best Public Relations as its agency of record.

"We are thrilled to be working with Simply the Best PR as they will promote our growing product line and our Inline marketing program," Livethesource chairman and founder Ted Farnsworth said. "We are certain that Simply the Best PR will help elevate our brand awareness quickly and effectively."

Livethesource is best known for its patented, fully nano-encapsulated liquid vitamin, mineral and herbal supplement.

LAKELAND, Fla. — Strong earnings and sales growth in the first quarter helped drive up Publix's stock price.

Publix’s sales for the first quarter of 2011 were $6.8 billion, a 4.4% increase from last year’s $6.5 billion. Comparable-store sales for first quarter 2011 increased 2.8%. Net earnings for the quarter were $398.2 million, compared with $364.4 million in 2010, an increase of 9.3%. Earnings per share for the first quarter increased to 51 cents for 2011, up from 47 cents per share in 2010.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Winn-Dixie Stores announced that, with the sale of its Deep South beverage manufacturing facility, it has completed its program to sell all noncore manufacturing operations.

Polar Beverages of Worcester, Mass., will own the Fitzgerald, Ga.-based facility effective April 29.

A weak job market and enduring housing challenges in Florida weren’t enough to derail the onward march of Publix last year as the state’s leading supermarket chain expanded its total store count, grew same-store sales and ended the year with record results. 



If sports columnists covered Winn-Dixie, their story line would read something like this: The Jacksonville, Fla.-based retailer has climbed back into the ring as a slimmed-down and much-improved fighter competing in a lighter weight class. 


MIAMI — Navarro Discount Pharmacy has partnered with Continental National Bank of Miami to open an in-store bank branch inside Navarro's Hialeah Gardens store — marking the first bank in Florida to open an in-store bank in a drug store format.

The mini-bank branch will include two teller windows, an ATM and one service desk where customers can speak with a bank representative. Extended hours will be available for an added convenience.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Crème of Nature, a maker of ethnic hair care, has tapped New York dermatologist, author and speaker Fran Cook-Bolden to serve as the company's spokeswoman.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark announced on Friday that it has agreed to pay $17.5 million, to be allocated among the federal government and 10 participating states, to resolve a civil complaint concerning how its CVS/pharmacy retail pharmacies submitted reimbursement claims in certain states for prescriptions filled for "dual eligible" patients who have coverage under both Medicaid and a third-party insurance plan.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The 2011 allergy season is expected to be 27 days longer in the northernmost parts of North America, adding almost a month of suffering to the typical pollen allergy season of February through October, a study published Tuesday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences determined.

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Infopia America last week announced that its new SmartDiabetes product line has launched in 284 Walgreens drug stores in central and northeast Florida. The central Florida Walgreens region includes stores in Jacksonville, Orlando, Lakeland, Daytona Beach and Melbourne.

TAMPA, Fla. — Nestle Performance Nutrition and its PowerBar brand have teamed up to introduce a new energy bar for women.

Iron Girl is a co-branded women's energy bar that was produced by PowerBar and Iron Girl, an athletic event series consisting of 13 races nationwide, ranging from 10K/5K to half-marathon, duathlon and triathlon. Iron Girl is part of World Triathlon, producers of the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.