Top Retailers

MATTHEWS, N.C. — A 25% increase in the health and beauty care product assortments at Family Dollar contributed to overall inventory growth during the company’s third quarter, the retailer announced Wednesday morning with the release of its financial results.

In addition to the major expansion of the health and beauty category at 5,000 of the company’s 6,900 stores, Family Dollar said it also expanded assortments of food by 20%, which, combined with the health and beauty care initiative, resulted in an overall increase in inventory levels of 15%.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — As part of its commitment to greener operations, Supervalu announced plans to transition 40 Albertsons banner stores to zero-waste operations before the end of the fiscal year on Feb. 29, 2012.

Last November, two Albertsons stores achieved zero-waste classification, which was highlighted in Supervalu's corporate responsibility report that was released Wednesday.

Zero-waste classification is achieved when stores divert at least 90% of all waste from landfills, Supervalu said.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Sam's Club is helping parents prepare for the back-to-school season by offering free children's health and ID screenings at stores nationwide on July 9.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Wednesday unveiled plans to establish deeper roots on its home turf with its “Chicago Hometown Investment Initiative,” a plan that will create an estimated 600 new jobs in the city over the next two years and will quadruple the number of Walgreens’ food oasis stores.

YONKERS, N.Y. — Important safety information often is missing from drug labels, while some pharmacies don’t include medication guides required by the federal government, according to a new investigation by Consumer Reports.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart announced that it will offer customers savings of 10 cents a gallon on all fuel, gas and diesel at participating Murphy USA and Walmart gas stations. The reduction is part of a 90-day Rollback program.

The program will be implemented across 18 states.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer's free prenatal vitamins prescription program filled its 1 millionth prescription this week, the company announced Wednesday.

The retailer said that its program, which launched in May 2008, has garnered nearly $14 million in savings to Midwest families. The Meijer free prenatal vitamins program offers such brands as TriAdvance, Trinatal GT, Trinatal Ultra, Vol-Nate, Vol-Plus and Vol-Tab, and enables any customer, regardless of insurance or copay, to have his or her prenatal prescription filled free of charge.

BOSTON — There’s a tremendous upside for retailers and suppliers, but that upside will come from doing things differently than in years past, as well as grappling with fragmentation. Those were a few of the key messages Bryan Gildenberg, chief knowledge officer of Kantar Retail, had for attendees of Monday morning’s business session at NACDS Marketplace in Boston.