RETAIL NEWS

BENTONVILLE, Ark.— Walmart stock was trading higher 3.1% by more than $2 per share to $71.50 in early afternoon trading following the greatest quarterly increase in same-store sales since July 2012. According to the company, Walmart U.S. comp sales increased 1.8%, driven by a traffic increase of 1.4%. Neighborhood Market comps increased approximately 5.3%.

WAUKESHA, Wis. — Dave Wendland of Hamacher Resource Group will present, “Marketing at Shelf: The Last 100 Feet,” at the Chain Drug Marketing Association’s Annual Trade Expo in Las Vegas on Tuesday. The session will concentrate on the front-end opportunity and how drug store owners and managers need to focus on shelf strategy and retail execution to viably compete in the age of “see it, buy it” consumer activity.

SOUTHPORT, Conn. — Walmart, Kroger, Target, Walgreens, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Ahold USA, Cardinal Health and CVS Health were all named as top 50 U.S. corporations for inclusion by Omnikal (formerly Diversity Business). The Omni50 is a listing of the top 50 corporate and government buyers of products and services from an inclusive supply chain throughout the country.

Health is at a premium today, and everyone is searching for how to get it. This includes consumers, employees and companies.  Health through food is very much on the radar of supermarkets, drug stores and other retailers.

So it wasn’t surprising this topic came up recently at a high-level event for supermarket executives, the 2017 Food Marketing Institute Midwinter Executive Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Executives outlined new directions for food and health, and how consumers are searching for answers.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Little Clinic, introduced “We’ll Hold Your Spot,” an online tool that allows consumers to reserve a spot in line before they get to a clinic.

The wholly-owned subsidiary of Kroger launched this service at 215 of its clinics located inside select Kroger, Dillons, Fry’s, Jay C and King Soopers in 10 states.