In this Issue

Dollar sales in the snack/granola bar category have grown nearly 8% in the past year, according to Sue Viamari, editor of Symphony­IRI Group’s Times and Trends report.


“Growth is being driven by strong performance by nutrition/intrinsic health value bars and granola bars, which climbed 15.6% and 7% during that time period,” she said. Breakfast/cereal bars posted flat sales for the year.


Consumers may have a bit more to spend for the 2011 back-to-school season, so retailers should tweak their merchandise plans to accommodate.


Perry James, an analyst at the NPD Group, said that over the past few years, dollar trends in school supplies have not kept pace with unit supplies. Consumers also have been waiting until the last minute to shop. “As the economy gets better, retailers should be careful about too many promotions late in the season,” James said.

Welmedix’s First Degree therapeutic burn cream provides a unique solution for minor burns that the company suggests is an unmet need at retail. It’s an all-in-one burn cream that helps soothe pain, cool the burn, prevent infection and reduce the appearance of scars.




Following a dismal year 
in 2009, U.S. prestige beauty categories experienced an upswing in 2010 and, judging by the numbers, 2011 looks to be a positive year for prestige beauty.

Rising commodity costs and brutal competition have been squeezing profits from the ready-to-eat cereal category. Dollar sales for the 52-week period ended Dec. 26, 2010, were down 3%, according to SymphonyIRI Group. Sue Viamari, editor of SymphonyIRI’s Times and Trends, said the category has been in decline during the past several quarters, and there was a 0.7% decline in price per volume during the same period.


Move over Snuggie and ShamWow — more direct-response products are coming to retail.


“Over the past five years, there’s been an explosion of these products at retail,” said Tom Haire, editor of Response Magazine, a publication that covers the direct-response industry. “Retailers see products that fly off the shelves because they’ve been advertised so heavily, and manufacturers see an opportunity to extend the life of the brand.”

All the hype around H1N1 
that was so prevalent in 2009 is gone, leaving only the tough comparisons a year later. That makes the first half of the 
2010-2011 cough-cold season an H1N1 hangover with overall sales of $4.6 billion, representing a slight decline of 1.8%, for the 52 weeks ended Dec. 26, 2010, according to SymphonyIRI Group. What was missing in 2010 was the 2009 summer of sickness that reached a crescendo in September.

When ScriptPro started 
in­troducing pharmacy robots, it entered an industry where the pharmacist was mostly dolling out medications. Today, pharmacy automation and technology continue to evolve, freeing pharmacists’ time and taking on everything from workflow automation to smart-phone applications.