CVS

If you could pick only one headline regarding CVS Health over the past year, the conversion of all 1,669 pharmacies and 79 clinics acquired from Target in 2015 to CVS Pharmacy locations would be a good one. To be sure, those efforts are paying off. In the former Target pharmacy locations, script counts are up, CVS Health president and CEO Larry Merlo told analysts during a February earnings call.

Drug chains are editing existing product assortments to clear more space for up-and-coming brands that court back shoppers who may have migrated to specialty stores. Several categories are heating things up in the beauty aisles, especially Korean beauty. Kline research reveals the category is growing at a 30% annual clip, and chains are seeking the right items to introduce more shoppers to the innovative and effective Korean entries.

PITTSBURGH — Larry J. Merlo, president and CEO of CVS Health, will be the featured speaker for the University of Pittsburgh’s graduate student commencement convocation at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 29. Merlo, a Pitt alumnus and University trustee, was named Pitt’s 2016 Distinguished Alumni Fellow, the University’s premier alumni honor, which recognizes extraordinary professional achievements. In 2010, he received Pitt School of Pharmacy’s Distinguished Alumni Award, and in 2008 was named a Legacy Laureate.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — The CVS Health Foundation is teaming up with the Truth Initiative to work with students and administrators at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and community colleges across ther country to advoate for, adopt and implement 100% smoke- and tobacco-free campus policies.

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — More than two-thirds of Americans shopped at Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Dollar Tree and CVS, either online or in-store, according to a new index from The NPD Group.

CVS Health and New York City’s District 75, which provides citywide educational, vocational, and behavioral support for students with cognitive and behavioral disabilities, opened a mock CVS Pharmacy at the Brooklyn Transition Center, P373K, located at 185 Ellery St. in Brooklyn, N.Y.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health on Thursday announced that current EVP and general counsel Thomas M. Moriarty has been appointed to the newly created role of chief policy and external affairs officer.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health on Wednesday was recognized by Billion Dollar Roundtable, a corporate advocacy organization that promotes supply-chain diversity excellence, for reaching its goal of spending over $1 billion with diverse suppliers.