RITE AID

CAMP HILL, Pa. — All the Rite Aid stores affected by Hurricane Sandy have reopened except one, the company said Monday.

The store that hasn't opened, in Lavallette, N.J., is on a barrier island and is closed due to restricted access to the island. In addition, three stores in New York and one in New Jersey have established temporary pharmacies while their front ends are under repair. The company closed 790 stores at the height of the storm.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark reported strong numbers on both the retail and PBM sides of its business — but the real bombshell for analysts on the call was the news that the company has raised its estimate on the number of Express Script patients that CVS feels it can keep from going back to Walgreens.

Earlier this week, DSN reported that members of a prescription drug program offered by Humana to Medicare beneficiaries will soon be able to obtain 10 generic hypertension drugs from Walmart for a penny.

It's certainly good news for people with high blood pressure, but it also has big implications for the pharmacy retail industry.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Nutra Nail announced Wednesday the launch of its Bling It On Limited Edition Nutra Nail Gel Perfect color collection, which features six sparkling, festive shades fit for the holidays.

LEMOYNE, Pa. — An interactive kiosk that allows customers to order prescription glasses and contact lenses online, a special shelf for diabetes products and a new interior design are among the newest features at Rite Aid’s newest version of its Wellness store in Lemoyne, Pa. A path of wooden flooring leads directly to the store’s pharmacy, whose immediate surrounding area has been cleared of merchandise to give it a more open look.

Rite Aid was the first to fold in a health-driven component to its loyalty program; as participants move up the Wellness+ ladder, they earn health-related perks, like free healthcare assessments.

Wellness+ membership grew 8% to 25 million, during the company’s recently reported second quarter. Members accounted for 74% of front-end sales, compared with 69% one year ago, as well as 68% of prescription sales.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid is renewing its diabetes extension for Wellness+ and offering free screenings at all of its Wellness stores to mark American Diabetes Month, the retail pharmacy chain said Monday.

The battle to capture and retain customers in a world where price, convenience and even customer service have become commoditized is in full swing. “The risk is you end up in a loyalty war [where] companies begin to use the loyalty scheme or the loyalty component of [the card] as another form of price escalation,” warned Bryon Pearson, president of LoyaltyOne and contributing editor to Colloquy, a magazine that has covered the loyalty marketing industry since 1990. “The intelligence that sits behind these programs is where the real value is,” he said.