Content about Walgreens

Walgreens on Tuesday announced it is supporting American Heart Month by providing free blood-pressure testing during February at all Walgreens pharmacies and Take Care Clinics nationwide.

A university research project to look at the potential effects on patient health of incorporating medication management strategies into existing care teams has won a grant from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores' philanthropic arm.

To put Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson's speech at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores' Regional Chain Conference on Monday into perspective, one may consider that pharmacists today are the leading providers of immunizations and vaccinations, whereas five years ago, they weren't involved at all.

Walgreens promoted Joseph Magnacca to EVP from SVP. Magnacca also retains his title as president of daily living products and solutions. In this capacity, Magnacca will continue to oversee Walgreens merchandising and inventory strategy, private brands, insights and analytics, and the New York-based Duane Reade drug store chain, which Walgreens acquired in 2010.

And that means Magnacca will continue to do what he does best, which is change everything you've ever thought you knew about drug store retailing across the front-end. If you've ever met him in person, you'd know he's not a static person. He doesn't stand still. He's always moving toward identifying that next thing, that next offering or presentation that resonates with people at the crossroads of health and happy and at the same time is something they never thought they'd find in a drug store.

A line of OTC products from Australia will hit the shelves of Walgreens Friday.

This year's virulent flu season driven by a predominant H3N2 bug has people hitting their drug stores in droves in search of symptomatic relief, suggested an article published online by Forbes.

SCIO Health Analytics and Walgreens have teamed up to help employers gain maximum return on investment through worksite health centers. Through the partnership, SCIO will provide actionable data and reporting to demonstrate the value and impact of worksite health centers, while giving Walgreens’ clients areas of opportunity to further improve employee health and reduce costs.

More and more employers get it, and there is growing belief that as the clock ticks down to 2014 and full implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, even more employers will get it. In the meantime, projects like this that help provide outcome reporting will help make the ROI picture even clearer for big employers who still might be on the fence.

SCIO Health Analytics entered into a relationship with Walgreens to help employers gain maximum return on investment through worksite health centers and wellness programs, identifying opportunities to improve workforce health while also reducing costs.

Sam's Club has hired cookbook author Katie Workman to recommend simple and healthy foods to influence people to eat better, the club retailer said Monday.

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.

Costco announced in its January 2013 magazine that it would begin offering pharmacy benefit management services, targeting small businesses and highlighting a 200-employee company based in Washington state.

It remains to be seen whether the club retailer's efforts to compete with the existing PBM businesses of companies like CVS Caremark, Walgreens and Walmart will be successful, and analysts like Citi's Deborah Weinswig appear skeptical that they will. But whatever the outcome, it's clear that Costco is looking to compete in a bigger way.