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ZAANDAM, Netherlands — Dutch supermarket operator Royal Ahold has bought back more than a quarter of the shares it intends to as part of a share-repurchase program announced earlier this year.

The company said Monday that it had bought back 2.23 million for $38.8 million. The purchases are part of the $678 million buyback program announced in February and increased by $2.03 billion in June.

The total amount repurchased so far is 42.8 million shares, for a total price of $711.9 million.

LANCASTER, S.C. — Family Dollar last week opened its 8,000th store here, the company announced.

"Lancaster is  proud to have been selected as the site of Family Dollar's 8,000th store," stated Joe Shaw, Lancaster's mayor. "We look forward to partnering with Family Dollar to meet the retail needs of our citizens."

"We have over 200 stores in South Carolina, so it certainly is a great fit for us to open this landmark store in the state," commented Howard Levine, Family Dollar chairman and CEO. 

DEERFIELD, Ill. — With this year’s Medicare Annual Election Period overlapping with the unrelated open enrollment for the new federal and state insurance marketplaces, there’s a growing need to help Medicare beneficiaries understand their healthcare coverage options when Medicare open enrollment begins on Oct. 15, Walgreens noted Monday. 

MATTHEWS, N.C. — Jason Reiser has been elevated to the role of SVP/lead merchandising officer at Family Dollar, Drug Store News has learned. "In this role, Jason will have executive responsibility for leading cohesive merchandising strategy and execution," noted company president and COO Mike Bloom. "Jason has already made a positive impact since joining Family Dollar in July.

NEW YORK — The governor of California has vetoed a bill that critics said would have limited patients' access to knock-off versions of biotech drugs.

MATTHEWS, N.C. — One consequence of the government shutdown may be the erosion of consumer confidence among the poor, noted dollar store operator Howard Levine, executive chairman and CEO of Family Dollar, in a conference call with analysts last week. "The way I think about these kind of things is it's just not a help to consumer confidence," he said. "The threat of the shutdown, the uncertainty regarding some of the government assistance that our consumers impact, the uncertainty around job growth are very real to our customer everyday."

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway on Thursday announced, as part of its plan to exit the Chicago market, it has sold four of its Dominick's stores in the greater Chicago area to New Albertsons, which operates Jewel-Osco grocery stores.  

Safeway announced today that it intends to exit the Chicago market altogether, where it operates 72 Dominick's stores, by early 2014. "We expect to use the cash tax benefit and any other cash proceeds from the disposal of Dominick's properties to buy back stock and to invest in growth opportunities," the company stated.

NEW YORK — The Skin Cancer Foundation’s annual Road to Healthy Skin Tour, presented by Rite Aid, has wrapped up its sixth cross-country journey, bringing free skin cancer screenings and prevention information to communities across America.

During this year’s tour, volunteer dermatologists detected 788 suspected pre-cancers and cancers, including 29 suspected melanomas.