On Nov. 5, industry vet Frank Maione closed the book on 34 years of building the business for the likes of Warner Lambert, Pfizer and most recently Johnson & Johnson. Last month, a group of about 100 of his friends, colleagues and family members — including mom, dad and enough grandchildren to create his own junior sales team — joined Drug Store News at Il Giardino Ristorante in Cedar Knolls, N.J., to give Frank a night to remember.

Clinique's new "Service As You Like It" beauty counter concept at Lord & Taylor's landmark Fifth Avenue store in New York offers shoppers multiple ways to engage and interact with the brand and products in the space, including Foundation, Colour, Mascara and Lip Bars; a "Top Ten" wall that showcases current best sellers; and the option for consumers to shop the department as they prefer, whether that is with the assistance of a Clinique expert, a computer skin care analyiss that provides product recommendations or on their own.

Katz Group Canada’s flagship Rexall drug store chain has unveiled a new retail format, called Rexall Healthy Living Pharmacy, aimed at making its stores “an innovative health destination” that will provide customers with preventive-health products and solutions, information to lead healthier lives and an integrated approach that weds such clinical capabilities as disease state management with wellness counseling.

Duane Reade recently took the wraps off its flagship store in Union Square, a large, sleek location that brings together under one roof the retailer's newest innovations. Drug Store News took a tour to get a first-hand glimpse.

More than 130 retail companies — comprised of chain drug stores, supermarkets and mass merchants — gathered at the San Diego Convention Center Aug. 28 to 31 for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores' 2010 Pharmacy and Technology Conference.

CVS/pharmacy has always prided itself on convenience, but the retailer clearly is raising the bar with the rollout of its Urban Cluster store concept. The company expected to have 300 of its 7,100-plus stores converted to the concept by the end of the year, and expected to have a total of 1,300 to 1,400 stores reset to the concept over the next few years, according to company spokesman Mike DeAngelis.

The Art of Shaving stores are in the midst of a makeover, as the rollout of a new store design continues across Procter & Gamble’s chain of 39 men’s grooming stores. The centerpiece of the new design is the center table, which promotes The Art of Shaving’s Four Elements of the Perfect Shave platform: prepare, lather up, shave and moisturize. The new design matches more closely The Art of Shaving’s upscale, men’s club brand image.

Having opened its fourth location just outside of Cleveland in June, Max-Wellness could be described as a pumped-up GNC or Vitamin Shoppe on account of the cast of interactive employees milling about. Or, it may be better identified as a "drug store-light," given its whole focus on health and wellness -- a pharmacy sans pharmacist, so to speak. But it's neither of these exactly.

Having opened its fourth location just outside of Cleveland in June, Max-Wellness could be described as a pumped-up GNC or Vitamin Shoppe on account of the cast of interactive employees milling about. Or, it may be better identified as a "drug store-light," given its whole focus on health and wellness -- a pharmacy sans pharmacist, so to speak. But it's neither of these exactly.

Drug Store News party at NACDS Marketplace 2010 in San Deigo.

NACDS Marketplace 2010 reception and attendee appreciation parties in San Deigo.

Meet the Market this year represented more than 8,000 face-to-face prearranged appointments.