RITE AID

CAMP HILL, Pa. — A Rite Aid pharmacist and customer on the West Coast are the winners of an annual contest the chain sponsors, the company said Tuesday.

NEW YORK — Rite Aid has become the latest chain to join the retail smartphone application game.

The Camp Hill, Pa.-based retail pharmacy chain recently launched an app for smartphones that allows users to refill prescriptions by scanning their barcodes or entering the prescription number, transfer prescriptions, manage their Wellness+ loyalty card accounts, view weekly circulars and compile shopping lists, among other features.

The app is available for major smartphone brands including the Apple iPhone and Android phones.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Former Walgreens' CEO Jeff Rein said profit pressure might cause Walgreens to think differently about acquisitions than it did in the past. The loss of Express Scripts patients (who are incidentally taking their prescriptions to the nearest Walgreens competitor), coupled with a significant generic wave through 2012 — moreso in the back half of the year — potentially could keep Walgreens from posting a profit through fiscal 2012. "Walgreens is in a real poor position here," Rein said.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid is sponsoring skin cancer screenings at dozens of stores across the country as part of a tour that begins this month and ends in August, the retail pharmacy chain said Thursday.

Rite Aid said the Skin Cancer Foundation would travel across the country in a 38-ft. RV to more than 50 Rite Aid locations as part of the Road to Healthy Skin Tour, which Aveeno also is co-sponsoring, starting this week.

NEW YORK — Walgreens might be willing to acquire Rite Aid if it can't settle an ongoing contractual dispute with one of the country's largest pharmacy benefit managers, Walgreens' former CEO said in a conference call with investors Monday.

Interviewed by Credit Suisse analyst Edward Kelly, former Walgreens CEO Jeff Rein suggested that Walgreens' board "would have the stomach" to buy Rite Aid if it doesn't reach an agreement with Express Scripts, as buying Rite Aid's nearly 4,700 stores would give Walgreens considerable leverage against the PBM.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — A miniature version of the spike in stock market activity that followed speculation about the prospects of a Walgreens-Rite Aid merger happened on Drug Store News' website as a quick writeup about the potential deal became the most-read story on the site.

(THE NEWS: Reports: WAG-RAD merger speculation drives RAD stock to four-year high. For the full story, click here)

NEW YORK — A takeover by Walgreens is "highly unlikely," but Rite Aid shares could stay past the $2 mark due to the company's fundamentals, an analyst said Thursday.

NEW YORK — Shares of Rite Aid crossed the $2 mark Wednesday afternoon following analyst speculation about the prospects of a takeover by Walgreens, according to published reports.