Content about Wellness

NEW YORK — Rebates on healthy foods may lead patients to purchase them more frequently, according to a new study by researchers in South Africa.

The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, examined a program offered by Discovery, South Africa's largest health plan. The HealthyFood program provides a cash-back rebate of up to 25% on healthy food purchases in more than 400 designated supermarkets around the country.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway on Wednesday offered a glimpse of its new wellness platform, slated to launch in the second quarter, to analysts during the chain's 2013 investor conference here. "Today, we're a supermarket company … selling wellness services and wellness products," Steve Burd, Safeway chairman and CEO, told analysts. Within 10 years, Safeway will transform into a wellness company that happens to sell food, Burd said. 

PITTSBURGH — Health and wellness products retailer GNC is sponsoring a 12-week effort to encourage consumers to transform eating and exercise habits for long-term weight management, the company said.

GNC Holdings, the retailer's parent company, announced the Total Lean Challenge and Sweepstakes, which offers a chance for consumers to win $25,000 in cash prizes, as well as serving as an introduction to the company's Lifestyle Diet approach to weight loss and a way to promote products like the Lean Shake and Total Lean Watertex.

NEW YORK — Max-Wellness will open a prototype, small-format store at an assisted-living facility this spring, CEO Michael Feuer told Drug Store News.

Feuer could not disclose the facility's location, but said it would be "economically high-end." The store will be 500 square feet and located in the lobby, similar to the health and wellness chain's hospital stores, but slightly smaller and more open. A larger rollout of the so-called "satellite stores" is planned for later on.

CHICAGO — Swisse Wellness, one of Australia's leading multivitamin brands, on Thursday announced availability of 15 of its most popular multivitamins and dietary supplements through Walgreens. 

"We are impressed by Swisse's growth, commitment to its principles and the research investment in the premium quality of their multivitamins and supplements," stated Robert Tompkins, divisional VP and general merchandise manager for Walgreens.  

SAN FRANCISCO — Three-in-four women today are motivated to be healthy, and most (82%) believe they will suffer negative consequences if they don't pursue that healthier lifestyle, according to a white paper released by Anthem Worldwide on Tuesday titled, “What Women Really Want From Health And Wellness.” 

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Sam's Club is offering free health screenings as part of a New Year's promotion, the club retailer said Friday.

The chain will offer free glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index and vision screenings at all of its stores that have pharmacies on Jan. 12, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Drug stores, especially chain drug stores, brand themselves differently. But once customers step through the doors, they tend to only see slight variations of the same thing: the same shelves, too tall for mere humans to reach the top without a ladder; the same product categories every other drug store carries; the same pharmacy counter in the back of the store; and the same cash registers in the front. Some stores have carpets, others have tile floors.


The entirety of Rite Aid’s marketing message can really be broken down to just two simple, yet powerful words: 
wellness empowerment. 


It is those two words that have helped inform Rite Aid’s entire wellness platform, from the introduction of its wellness+ loyalty card program in 2010 to the rollout of its new Wellness stores, beginning in 2011. It is those two words that have helped reinvigorate Rite Aid’s business — from how the store is formatted and how it looks, to the energy that pops among Rite Aid’s Wellness Ambassadors. 


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.

TORONTO — Towers Watson on Tuesday announced that it has selected Loblaw Companies as the preferred pharmacy services provider for its Towers Watson Canadian Rx Coalition, a collaborative network of private sector drug plan sponsors. 

The arrangement with Loblaw is expected to improve employers' ability to offer their employees access to a robust range of drug store health resources and support overall health and wellness needs while enabling long-term sustainability of their benefits programs in the face of rising costs.