Drug Store News articles from October 2007

Drug Store News archives from October 2007

Upsized chain keeps local touch.(Company overview)
October 15, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With the merger of Albertsons and Supervalu in June 2006, a new giant stood astride the U.S. food and drug marketplace. And with its first year of combined operations behind it, the energized Supervalu and its nearly...

Doc-staffed clinics set new standards.(CONSUMABLES)(Medical Marts)
October 15, 2007... NEW YORK -- Take a typical physician's office, drop it into a big-box retailer or drug store and you essentially have the next growing trend within the convenient care clinic landscape. While the nurse practitioner-staffed clinic model...

Industry gets reprieve for tamper-proof Rx.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)
October 15, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The acceptance by the Bush administration of a six-month delay in the rollout of new requirements for the way prescription drugs are written for Medicaid patients marks a clear and dramatic victory for retail pharmacy, and one...

FDA to look at BTC drug class.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)(Food and Drug Administration)
October 15, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration earlier this month announced plans for a public advisory committee meet-ing Nov. 14 on the potentiality of a third class of drugs--a class of drugs that would be available without prescription, but...

Walgreens' momentum falters as earnings decline hits stock.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)(Financial report)
October 15, 2007... DEERFIELD, III. -- Higher-than-expected operating costs and shrinking reimbursements for generic drugs took some of the wind out of Walgreen Co.'s earnings momentum in its fiscal 2007 fourth quarter, and Wall Street took the company to the...

Take Care to open 100 clinics by year-end, expand exec staff.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)(Take Care Health Systems)
October 15, 2007... CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. -- Furthering its plan to create a national footprint of in-store health clinics, Take Care Health Systems, which is owned by Walgreens, has unveiled an aggressive expansion plan that involves the hiring of several senior...

Mansuy honored with Rite Aid award.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)
October 15, 2007... CAMP HILL Pa. -- Gary Mansuy, senior director of merchandising for Rite Aid, received the company's highest honor, the President's Award, posthumously at the company's recent annual management conference and supplier exhibition in August. ...

Industry mixed on Rite Aid results.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)(Brooks-Eckerd)
October 15, 2007... CAMP HILL, Pa. -- One financial quarter into Rite Aid's acquisition of Brooks and Eckerd, analysts still prescribe caution regarding the potential success of the Brooks-Eckerd assimilation. "Rite Aid's initial quarter with Eckerd was mixed,"...

TRICARE bill a pending victory for Rx.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)
October 15, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Retail pharmacy came one big step closer to a key victory in its ongoing battle to level the playing field with mail-order pharmacy early this month. That step came with passage by the U.S. Senate of the National Defense...

Costco Rx sales up in 2007, but pace slows.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)
October 15, 2007... ISSAQUAH, Wash. -- Costco produced another year of strong pharmacy sales for fiscal 2007 and is planning to open its second central-fill center sometime in 2008. The 518-store chain didn't produce the double-digit increase in sales it...

Wal-Mart adds drugs to generics program.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)
October 15, 2007... BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- The prescription drug and healthcare marketplace can expect WalMart to be a disruptive force in the future as it targets what company executives characterize as inefficiency in the industry's supply chain landscape and...

Tesco U.S. debut expected in November.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)
October 15, 2007... LOS ANGELES -- Tesco still is being cagey about where it will open its first U.S. store, but it appears set to make its stateside debut in early November in either Phoenix or Los Angeles. Tesco has been releasing news of its plans for the...

Stater Bros. launches 'Healthy Selections' program.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- The Stater Bros. supermarket chain hopes to help customers lead a healthier lifestyle with its new 'Healthy Selections' dietitian program that will educate shoppers with in-store signage and frequent seminars. The...

Rebranding to better serve: David McConnell, GMDC.(Q & A)(dialogue with David McConnell)(Interview)
October 15, 2007... In the past year, the Global Market Distributor Center has undertaken a major rebranding initiative that better captures GMDC's mission and focus. Drug Store News caught up with David McConnell, GMDC president and chief executive officer, to...

Drug channel may see happier holidays.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)
October 15, 2007... NEW YORK -- Consumers may have a tighter grip on their slimming wallets this holiday season as high energy costs and housing concerns loom overhead, but in the drug store channel the front end could benefit from a stronger flu season and from a...

Lewis fine tunes appeal to young women.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)
October 15, 2007... SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Ever wonder where all those young people who graduate from college and move away to make their mark in the world are headed? Sioux Falls has been named the No. 1 place for businesses and careers by Forbes magazine for...

How many licks does it take?(OPINION)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... It's 5 a.m. Monday and there I am in the emergency room, busted beak and all, left with just the dull, aching pain in the center of my head, the dubious distraction of my own forced alliteration and nothing else to console myself but this...

Lawmakers' advocacy forges new ties with industry.(CHAIN PHARMACY)(Editorial)
October 15, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Formalizing a growing bond between lawmakers and independent and chain drug store operators, a group of community pharmacy's most reliable supporters in Congress have formed a new, bipartisan task force to spearhead the interests...

Pallone joins congressional chorus to change Medicaid pay model.(CHAIN PHARMACY)
October 15, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Joining a growing congressional chorus calling for change in the way federal and state governments will pay pharmacies for generic drugs dispensed under the Medicaid program, a powerful member of the U.S. House of Representatives...

Health fairs to offer screenings in Delta-region Wal-Mart stores.(DIABETES CARE)(Delta Regional Authority)
October 15, 2007... NEW ORLEANS -- Wal-Mart and the Delta Regional Authority have teamed up to fight diabetes. The partnership was announced last month as a way of bringing affordable, accessible health care to the Delta region, which includes Arkansas,...

Possible heart-failure risks hit diabetes medication sales.(DIABETES CARE)
October 15, 2007... WASHINGTON -- The diabetes drugs Avandia and Actos will be receiving new labels with severe warnings about a risk of heart failure to some patients. The makers of the drugs, GlaxoSmithKline and Takeda Pharmaceutical, have agreed to add the...

Diabetes prevention seminar offers advice, screenings.(DIABETES CARE)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... PHILADELPHIA -- Eli Lilly, the Health Ministry Program Coalition and the Keystone Mercy Health Plan recently sponsored the Diabetes and Weight Management seminar, which offered black women a chance to receive information from a panel of doctors...

'Iron Andy,' athlete and diabetic, offers inspiration as he competes.(DIABETES CARE)
October 15, 2007... VALLEY FORGE, Pa. -- The tens of millions of Americans coping with the effects of type 1 or type 2 diabetes might well draw some inspiration from a muscular, charismatic type 1 diabetic and Ironman competitor who's appearing at independent drug...

NielsenHealth unveils two reports.(DIABETES CARE)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... NielsenHealth, part of The Nielsen Co., recently introduced two services that will add to its health-related offerings: the Diabetes * Buzz and the Healthcare Marketing Mix. The Diabetes * Buzz monitors the current perceptions and attitudes of...

Pharmacies look to technology to broaden model.(PHARMACY AUTOMATION)
October 15, 2007... Pharmacy automation in the 21st century isn't really about futuristic, multi-tasking robots, weight-based pill-counting machines, scanner-driven verification systems and other technological gizmos that drive the counting, pouring, licking and...

AmerisourceBergen.(VENDOR News)(Auto-Med Efficiency Pharmacy R800)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... AmerisourceBergen, which earlier this year launched its newest product, the Auto-Med Efficiency Pharmacy R800, a robotic prescription dispensing device that can fill more than 200 labeled prescriptions an hour, has just opened a new facility in...

QS/1.(VENDOR News)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... QS/1 has three new products to add to its automation provider company. The first, the QS/1 Message Center, sends an instant message to specific workstations, alerting personnel of important information that may need immediate attention. These...

Cerner Etreby.(VENDOR News)(Chain Pharmacy Management System)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Cerner Etreby has developed its flagship retail product, the Chain Pharmacy Management System, into a leading-edge technology that meets the needs for real-time information access, central fill options and effortless reporting capabilities,...

Pfizer.(VENDOR News)(The SupplyScape Corp)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... The SupplyScape Corp. and Pfizer have entered into an agreement in which the pharmaceutical manufacturer licenses Supply-Scape's E-Pedigree data management software to enhance patient safety, secure the drug supply channel and meet regulatory...

Varolii.(VENDOR News)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... In an effort to help pharmacies make customer service a priority, Varolii has partnered with some of the top pharmacy chains to drive down the costs of medication fulfillment, increase patient adherence and free up valuable pharmacist time by...

Kirby Lester.(VENDOR News)(counting machines)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Kirby Lester has been involved in prescription filling for almost four decades. The company has created counting machines that have cut down on wait times and increased the accuracy of prescription filling. The company backs all of its products...

Is industry ready for telecaring, the next generation of health care?(OVER THE COUNTER)(Continua Health Alliance)
October 15, 2007... It soon will be a brave new world in diagnostics. Products bearing the logo of the Continua Health Alliance, a group of technology, medical device and health and fitness industry leaders that is pooling standards for the wireless collection and...

Raising breast cancer awareness: Gina Ciagne, Lansinoh.(Q & A)(Interview)
October 15, 2007... With October representing National Breast Cancer Awareness month, Lansinoh has coupled its Nurture Note e-mail list with a fundraising event that helps raise awareness around breast-feeding and its potential to reduce breast cancer risk. Drug...

OTC meds add some flavor.(WHAT'S HOT)(Over-the-counter drug)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Following in the footsteps of McNeil Consumer, Boehringer Ingelheim recently made a big splash in the digestives aisle with a little pizzazz flavored into its H2-blocker, Zantac 150. The company launched Zantac 150...

Probiotics segment takes off.(OVER THE COUNTER)
October 15, 2007... It's a popping category, probiotics, in as much as the whole idea behind beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract is being heralded by the likes of Dannon in a comprehensive consumer advertising campaign for its probiotic-containing yogurt,...

Congress considers e-logbooks to further combat meth production.(OVER THE COUNTER)
October 15, 2007... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- For all the good last year's Combat Meth Act has done--according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, it has significantly curbed homegrown production of methamphetamine--"meth-heads" and their dealers still might be able...

Gladson Interactive.(Supplier News)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... A study conducted by Gladson Interactive, a provider of product images for the consumer goods industry, last month revealed that 90 percent of the more than 200,000 products examined contained at least one error in either product height, width...

Council for Responsible Nutrition.(Supplier News)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... The Council for Responsible Nutrition last month announced that it is sponsoring new research among healthcare professionals to better understand their personal use of dietary supplements and how it may impact the way they counsel their...

Bayer Healthcare.(Supplier News)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Bayer Healthcare last month announced in Europe the introduction of two wireless blood-glucose meters, the results of which can be transmitted wirelessly to the patients' insulin pumps or to a hospital's central data processing system. ...

Alli exhibit to tour nationwide.(OVER THE COUNTER)
October 15, 2007... PITTSBUBGH-- Alli's hitting the road. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare last month launched its "Alli Experience" mall tour, an educational exhibit that will make stops in 12 major U.S. cities to help educate overweight adults on healthy...

Namaste Laboratories.(SUPPLIER NEWS)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Namaste Laboratories, the makers of the Organic Root Stimulator brand of hair care products for ethnic consumers, has introduced a hair fertilizer to help strengthen weak, damaged hair. The hair fertilizer contains horsetail and coconut for...

Pur-lisse.(SUPPLIER NEWS)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Pur-lisse, which uses centuries-old Chinese beauty secrets, officially launched its skin care line last month at the C.O. Bigelow Apothecary in New York. Creator Jennifer Yen said she is looking to expand distribution within apothecary-style...

Lornamead.(SUPPLIER NEWS)(appointments)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Lornamead has named David Melagrano vice president of finance for the company's Stamford, Ct.-based North and South American operations. Pete Columbia has been named vice president of sales. Melagrano has spent the majority of his career at...

Nail polish takes bold steps to recover.(BEAUTY CARE)
October 15, 2007... The nail polish segment has faced its fair share of hardships in years past as both natural-looking nails and nail salons have hampered sales, but manufacturers are going 'bold'--a trend that is feeding off of fashion runways. Such moves...

Cleaning up the natural way.(WHAT'S HOT)(Newcomer Pure and Natural)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Newcomer Pure & Natural is rolling out in February a cleansing bar and the packaging takes ecoconscious living to a new level in the mass market. The bar is 98 percent natural, hypoallergenic, paraben-free and enriched with pure glycerin....

Consumers want to look good without spendino.(WHAT'S HOT)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... SCHAUMBURG, III. -- Most Americans believe that the pressure to look good is escalating, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are spending more dollars in the beauty aisle, according to the findings of a recent study. Based on the...

Data is new face of ethnic cosmetics success.(BEAUTY CARE)
October 15, 2007... IRVING, Texas -- The traditional way of doing category management may have served the industry well in the past, but times have changed--a notion that also holds true for the ethnic cosmetics segment. That was a key message conveyed by Jeffery...

Global cuisines add spice, variety to U.S. diets.(CONSUMABLES)
October 15, 2007... Americans have an insatiable appetite for global cuisine. For some time retailers have watched sales of foods with a "south of the border" heritage take off. Information Resources Inc. estimates the U.S. ethnic food market at $75 billion in...

Halloween Kit Kat bars return with new designs.(WHAT'S HOT)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Just in time for the Halloween season, Hershey Co. is bringing back its Kit Kat Ghoulish Collection. The iconic light, crispy wafers covered in milk chocolate feature four holiday-themed spooky designs etched over the four-stick bars. ...

Abbott.(Supplier News)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Abbott has launched PediaSure NutriPals Fruit Bars, meant to help children get their needed serving of real fruit each day. The 150-calorie bars are made with one serving of real fruit in every bar and are a good source of protein, fiber and...

Quaker.(Supplier News)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Quaker is the first cereal company to take the popularity of natural foods mainstream with its new all-natural Quaker Simple Harvest, an instant, multi-grain hot cereal. Combining Quaker oats with whole-grain wheat and barley, each...

Convenient packaging, healthier profiles drive soup sales.(CONSUMABLES)
October 15, 2007... Boosted by convenience and more healthy options, sales of soup have been strong at drug stores. Sales of ready-to-serve wet soup were up over 10 percent for the 52 weeks ended Aug. 12, 2007, according to Information Resources Inc. Sales of...

Promotion needed to build refill category.(GENERAL MERCHANDISE)
October 15, 2007... The inkjet cartridge refill business is still relatively unknown and that's why some high-profile retailers and suppliers are trying to get consumers in the habit of refilling cartridges instead of buying new ones. Walgreens, which has the...

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.(Supplier News)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will roll out the animated hit The Simpsons Movie Dec. 3. The DVD will be priced at $29.98 and will feature deleted scenes and special features. The film will also be released on Blu-Ray high definition...

Gift card purchases.(Supplier News)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Gift card purchases are expected to hit a record high of $35 billion during the 2007 holiday season as more retailers make them readily available to customers. A study from Archstone Consulting forecasts a 25 percent increase over the...

Future sales looks picture-perfect for digital picture frames.(GENERAL MERCHANDISE)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... They're never going to be as ubiquitous as iPods or cell phones, but digital photo frames are generating huge sales that are going to increase over the next four years. According to research firm IDC, digital frames are projected to pass the 42...

Low-priced digital cameras arrive this fall.(WHAT'S HOT)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Kodak is returning to the low-priced digital camera market this fall with a new model priced well under $100. The Kodak EasyShare C513 arrived in stores in October at a suggested retail price of $79.95, a price that's sure to be lowered by...

New force in pharmacy eyes expansion of clinical care.(SUPERVALU)
October 15, 2007... The merger of Albertsons and Supervalu brought together more than 900 supermarket pharmacies clustered within a wide variety of retail banners stretching from coast to coast. And overnight, it made Supervalu a national pharmacy force to be...

In-store clinics: a careful balancing act.(SUPERVALU)
October 15, 2007... In-store walk-in clinics are popping up near the pharmacy counters at drug, supermarket and mass merchandise stores coast to coast, and Supervalu's pharmacies are no exception. But the company's foray into ambulatory patient care will be more...

Power Drug highlights beauty of grocery shopping.(SUPERVALU)
October 15, 2007... There's something cooking in the aisles of Supervalu's Power Drug format. Executive vice president of merchandising and marketing Duncan Mac Naughton and his team have hit on a recipe for converting grocery shoppers to food-drug customers, and...

Larger scale pays off with major brands on shelf.(SUPERVALU)
October 15, 2007... With its acquisition of some 1,100 Albertsons properties, Supervalu not only became the nation's third-largest supermarket chain by revenues with a much stronger foothold in pharmacy, but it also gained much-needed scale in the beauty arena....

Multiple banners complex, but play to brand strength.(SUPERVALU)
October 15, 2007... Supervalu has developed a complex strategy in the wake of its acquisition of its piece of the former Albertsons, betting on the strength of the banners it acquired and the power of its existing distribution business to turn a challenge into a...

Customer service commitments drive remodeling, merchandising.(SUPERVALU)
October 15, 2007... Supervalu chief executive officer Jeff Noddle wants to make customer service more than a corporate feel-good buzzword. He wants to make it an obsession among the company's 200,000 employees. Among the four performance milestones that Noddle...

Supply chain key in meeting merger synergies.(SUPERVALU)
October 15, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] When Supervalu took ownership of the properties it acquired from Albertsons, it went from a 50-50 retail-distribution revenue split to having an overwhelming retail focus. Yet, it is the distribution business that...

Supervalu earns high marks for corporate culture.(SUPERVALU)
October 15, 2007... Corporate culture is a fairly new term that encompasses how a company treats its employees and the general tone it sets around the workplace. And the example set by such major corporations as Costco and Disney has established some precedents...

Charity part of local approach.(SUPERVALU)
October 15, 2007... In politics, "everything is local," and that's a motto Supervalu follows with its philanthropic ventures. The chain prides itself on fine-tuning its stores and merchandise to the communities it serves, and takes that approach to charitable...

Leaders upbeat as analysts fret over debt levels.(SUPERVALU)
October 15, 2007... Supervalu now has four quarters of operation as a combined company under its belt since its high-profile purchase of 1,124 supermarkets and food/drug combo stores from Albertsons in June 2006. And the track record Supervalu has notched thus far...

Sun Shower.(Supplier News)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Sun Shower has added two new flavors--nectarine cranberry and nectarine grape orange--to its growing line of 100% Nectarine juices. The seven varieties, of Sun Shower 100% Nectarine juice, which also include nectarine, nectarine berry,...

Sumseeds.(Supplier News)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Sumseeds recently added three flavors to its line of caffeinated and energized snack: dill pickle, honey BBQ and salt and pepper. The new flavors for the sunflower seeds, which pack an extra jolt of energy, were created over the summer using...

Hershey Co.(Supplier News)(Brief article)
October 15, 2007... Hershey Co. unveiled four collector edition chocolate bars, featuring different images of the late Dale Earnhardt, the seven-time NASCAR champion, on its packaging for Hershey's Milk Chocolate bars, Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds bar and...

Rite Aid disseminates CHIP info in partnership with Pa.(NEWS & ANALYSIS)
October 15, 2007... HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell last month chose Rite Aid to be the conduit for information on the state's Children's Health Insurance Program--Rite Aid stores throughout south central Pennsylvania hosted registration booths...