Top Retailers

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Meijer will donate up to $10,000 to benefit three diaper banks in the Midwest, the mass merchandise retailer said Thursday.

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General on Thursday reported $4.4 billion in sales, up 10.5%, for the company's third quarter ended Nov. 1. Same-store sales increased 4.4%, with increases in both customer traffic and average transaction value, the dollar store operator reported.

CINCINNATI — Kroger on Thursday reported that same-store supermarket sales growth, without fuel, was 3.5% in the third quarter, marking the 40th consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth. It's a feat that Kroger achieved despite the slow economic recovery. "The resiliency of our Customer First strategy … was on full display during the quarter, even as our internal research shows that customers remain uncertain about the economy," Dave Dillon, Kroger chairman and CEO, told analysts Thursday morning. 

NEW YORK — Sears Holdings chairman and CEO Eddie Lampert has pared down his stake in the retailing company, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.

A Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed that Lampert reduced his stake in Sears Holdings to 48.4%, from a 55.4% stake reported in March. That leaves him with about 51.6 million shares in the company, whose stock was valued at $50.38 per share Wednesday morning on the NASDAQ, down from its opening price of $52.62.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark’s MinuteClinic has expanded to its 28th state with the opening of clinic locations inside select CVS/pharmacy stores in New Hampshire, and the clinic operator also has formed a new clinical collaboration with Dartmouth-Hitchcock, the largest healthcare system in New Hampshire.

Clinics are now open in Concord and West Lebanon. A Salem clinic will open Dec. 11, and locations in Hampton, Manchester and Nashua will open in early January, the company stated.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Wednesday reported November sales of $6.1 billion, an increase of 4.1% for the same month in fiscal 2013.

Total front-end sales increased 3.2%, while comparable store front-end sales increased 1.9%. Customer traffic in comparable stores increased 0.8% and basket size increased 1.1%.

The company said that a meaningful increase versus prior quarters in promotional investment contributed to the improvement in traffic and comparable store front-end sales for November and throughout the quarter.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced that Walgreens, Monsignor John Brown and the New York Mets have each been awarded the 2013 Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience, recognizing their contributions to their communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

NEW YORK — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation celebrated its 15th Annual Foundation Dinner the evening of Dec. 3 in New York City, raising more than $1.8 million to support the Foundation’s research, education and medication adherence initiatives.

Walgreens and Duane Reade were the premier sponsors of the event.