RITE AID

Overdrive.


Increasingly, chains that traditionally have not been major forces in food retailing are making bigger commitments than ever to fresh — including meat, produce and dairy — in an effort not only to help solve the nation’s growing health crisis and expand Americans’ access to nutritious food options, but also to create new reasons for customers to shop their stores.


NEENAH, Wis. — Santal Solutions last week announced its dietary supplement Assurance Blood Health Support has gained distribution through Rite Aid and Walgreens.

“We are excited that Assurance Blood Health Support is on the shelves of major retailers,” Santal president Dennis Torkko said. “This reinforces the strength of the product and provides an all-natural option for those individuals that are concerned about blood sugar, cholesterol and triglyceride levels.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — H. D. Smith, the fourth-largest national pharmaceutical wholesaler, on Tuesday named Mark de Bruin to the post of corporate VP managed care.

In his new position at H. D. Smith, 29-year industry veteran de Bruin will be responsible for the company's third party network, creating and maintaining an alliance of prescription and healthcare service providers.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Same-store sales at Rite Aid increased by 1.8% in June, the retail pharmacy chain said Thursday.

During the four-week period ended June 25, front-end sales were up 1.5% over the same period last year, while pharmacy sales increased by 1.9%, including a reduction of about 163 basis points due to new introductions of generic drugs.

Total drug store sales for the month increased 1% to $1.93 billion, compared with $1.91 billion in June 2010.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — In June 1997, the cover of Wired magazine showed Apple’s logo with a crown of thorns and the foreboding word “Pray.” Amid the nascent tech boom, the company’s stock hit a low of about $12 per share that summer. The future, it seemed, was IBM-compatible.

(THE NEWS: Rite Aid shows off innovation with Wellness store. For the full story, click here.)

BOSTON — More and more success at retail is contingent upon delivering what the consumer wants, when she wants it, where she wants it and at the price she wants it.

According to a panel of consumer manufacturers and retail executives from Navarro Discount Pharmacies and Rite Aid, she wants fresh, health and wellness all neatly packaged with a value-priced bow. And she wants it in the drug channel.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Sales may have been flat overall, but a closer look revealed there was a lot to be positive about in Rite Aid’s fiscal first quarter 2012 earnings, as the company managed significant expense improvement and stronger same-store sales growth. Bottom line: Rite Aid narrowed its losses considerably, and that ain’t all expense control.

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — The first thing one notices upon entering Rite Aid’s new Wellness concept store in Mechanicsburg, Pa., is how bright, airy and open it looks, compared with a typical retail pharmacy, thanks to a new paint job and lower shelves that left some customers with the mistaken impression that the store had new lighting.