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NEW YORK — Target is offering new natural and organic food products as part of its Simply Balanced private label, according to published reports.

The Associated Press reported that the line would start with such products as drinks and snacks, and was an outgrowth of similar products sold under the Archer Farms label. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores is reminding private sector and government decision-makers about the public’s trust of community pharmacists as healthcare advisers and about the ability of new pharmacy services – in conjunction with physicians and other healthcare partners – to help empower patients to improve their health. The statement comes on the heels of an Aflac survey that revealed concerns about Americans’ confidence in their ability to play active roles in “consumer-driven healthcare.”

WASHINGTON — A group of 16 food and beverage suppliers, including PepsiCo, Kraft Foods and General Mills, has exceeded its goal of reducing trillions of calories from foods in the marketplace ahead of schedule, the group announced this week.

DENVER — A recent study conducted by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research, and unvelied in the latest issue of The Checkout, found 16% of Hispanic shoppers use their mobile device to make purchases, compared with just 12% of general market shoppers.

CARLISLE, Pa. — A division of Ahold USA is donating millions of dollars to local schools.

Giant Food Stores and Martin's Food Markets, also known as Giant-Carlisle, announced Wednesday the donation of $3 million to 2,868 public and private schools through its A+ School Rewards program for the 2012-2013 school year. The program has donated more than $16 million since 2005. The program allows local schools to earn money for technology, scholarships, school programs, field trips, playgrounds and other needs.

WASHINGTON — The retail industry added nearly 30,000 jobs last month amid a general uptick in hiring that brought unemployment down to 7.5%, according to the Department of Labor.

The department's monthly jobs report showed the economy added 165,000 jobs, including 29,000 in the retail industry, which accounts for the largest number of private sector jobs. In addition, the March jobs report, which initially showed that the economy added only 88,000 jobs, was revised upward to 138,000, while the February report was revised upward to 332,000.

Canada's Rexall Pharma Plus has officially taken the lid off a reinvention of its business, from its stores and its brand, to the products and services in its stores.

Beginning about 18 months ago, the company undertook a strategic reinvention of its entire business, and during that time, much work has been underway to enhance the business and the lives of its shoppers.

FORT LEE, N.J. — Clipix, a new free Web service launched last month, combines online bookmarking with file sharing and organization into one tool. Users now have a single service solution for saving Web content, uploading and sharing photos, and organizing documents all in one completely private or shareable space. Users can go to Clipix.com, drag and drop a "clip" button onto their browser bar, and then click whenever they find an item that they want to reference later. Clipix is accessible online and as a cross-mobile application on iPhone and Android devices. 

CLEVELAND — American Greetings greeting card company has agreed to be taken private by a group led by some of its top executives for about $602 million, the company announced today.

The executive group was formed by the Weiss family — including chairman Morry Weiss; CEO Zev Weiss; director, president and COO Jeffrey Weiss and others — and will buy the shares of the company they don't already own for $18.20 a piece in cash. This amounts to a 13% premium to American Greetings' closing price of $16.10 last Thursday.

NEW YORK — Driven by the need for consumers to have access to convenient, cost-effective and quality healthcare services, the number of walk-in health clinics has been on the rise across the country in recent years, and according to a Reuters report, private equity firms are helping to fuel the expansion.

In recent years, at least a dozen private equity firms have invested millions of dollars into urgent care clinics and several private equity executives reportedly told Reuters that they are eager for more acquisitions.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — VoicePort today announced a finalized agreement to deploy their services with WellSpan Health, a new client located in York, Pa., offering a vast array of inpatient, outpatient, home health and physician services.

The company will install two of VoicePort's patient solutions: PharmaRemind patient notifications and Meducation prescription translation, education and written instruction service. Both innovative solutions will enter Wellspan Health's pharmacy work-flow in pursuit of delivering improved medication adherence for their pharmacy patients.

WASHINGTON — Prescription-only pseudoephedrine laws result in well more than $278 million in additional burdens to taxpayers, according to a study published by Matrix Global Advisors on Monday.