Content about Wellness

ATLANTA, Ga. — SoloHealth on Thursday announced it has plans in place to expand its FDA-approved SoloHealth Station health-and-wellness digital kiosks to more than 2,500 store locations by mid-2013, scaling to more than 4,000 by 2014. 

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway's approach to multichannel retailing — a shopping app fielding personalized, targeted promotions to members of its growing Just for U loyalty program — represents the foundation for future growth, executives noted during a conference call with analysts Thursday morning.  

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — A Midwestern supermarket-pharmacy chain is taking part in an event that's part of a program whose stated goal is to make Iowa the healthiest state in the country.

Hy-Vee announced that more than 100 of its stores would take part in the second Healthiest State Walk on Wednesday. Hy-Vee stores will help organize the one-kilometer walks in their communities and offer prizes to encourage people, businesses and schools to participate.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart is hoping to blaze a bold new trail down the path toward wellness in its healthy food discount partnership with HumanaVitality announced this morning, and the global retailer has challenged others to follow. 

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid is launching a six-month, nationwide health-and-wellness campaign to mark its 50 years of operation, the retail pharmacy chain said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — The Council for Responsible Nutrition's “Life…supplemented” campaign on Wednesday launched its first mobile application, WannaBeWell. The free app, currently available on iPhones and iPads, is a comprehensive wellness resource that educates, activates and motivates those looking to live a healthier life.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Members of Rite Aid's loyalty card program will have special reward points added to their cards automatically starting next month, the retail pharmacy chain said Thursday.

Beginning Sept. 2, Wellness+ members will have +UPs loaded to their cards automatically. +UPs are special rewards earned when certain items or groups of items are purchased and can be used like cash toward future purchases. Rite Aid COO Ken Martindale said the national rollout of the Load2Card feature for +UPs would follow a seven-month pilot in four cities.

Max-Wellness, a health-and-wellness concept store, has incorporated proactive employees armed with health information as part of its DNA since the company’s inception in 2010. The store format features “Max-Answers” information stations that house tablets that can either be picked up by a customer or a Max-Wellness associate for use right at the shelf of interest.

Incorporated into the new store formats currently being rolled out by both Walgreens and Rite Aid is a new store associate position with the primary function of proactively engaging customers in the OTC aisle. Walgreens calls them Health Guides; Rite Aid calls them Wellness Ambassadors.

One of the most visible representations of Rite Aid’s efforts to make a comeback is its Wellness store format. The company first unveiled the format in several test markets in the Northeast last year, gradually expanding it to other states. Today, more than 420 stores have been converted, and the chain hopes to eventually make the format the norm. The company plans to have 780 stores converted by the end of the year.


SAN FRANCISCO — Health-and-wellness e-retailer Vitacost.com is targeting smartphone users with the relaunch of its mobile commerce website, developed in partnership with Moovweb, the company announced Thursday.

"Vitacost customers are very passionate about their health and wellness products," Vitacost chief marketing officer David Zucker said. "Our new Moovweb-powered mobile site unleashes the power of social media to help our customers spread the word about their favorite products, as well as easily access recommendations for new products."

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — You want Rite Aid to win.