WALGREENS

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The regulatory review of the Express Scripts-Medco merger now is in its final stages, and with the clock ticking down to that 30-day deadline, you can expect a full court-press from retail pharmacy interests looking to block the deal. The time for the three-point finesse shots from the corners of the court has passed, it's now time to charge the net and jam the message home; an Express Scripts-Medco merger is bad both for the retail pharmacy business and for consumers. However, it just might be good for CVS Caremark.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Friday announced it will publish a digital edition of its weekly advertising circular that will offer additional items through Walgreens.com and the company's mobile applications.

The Sunday circular — read by more than 50 million consumers, according to Walgreens — also will get a new look and feel, designed to improve the shopping experience.

NEW YORK — Walgreens in January has been utilizing a new mobile advertising tool to push out messages targeting consumers who just "checked in" at one of its locations, according to a report published in Ad Age Wednesday.

According to the report, Walgreens sent out 5,000 messages in January via Twitter stating: "Check out Halls' new cough drops in the cold aisle."

DEERFIELD, Ill. — One drug store chain is aiming love's arrow at its Facebook users via a Valentine's Day campaign.

Walgreens said its "Play Cupid" campaign, developed by Digitas, incentivizes social sharing with Valentine's Day-themed mobile and printable offers and coupons that are redeemable in stores. As part of the coupon incentive, the app allows Facebook users to match up their friends and place their pictures in a custom scene.

Apparently, there’s life after Express Scripts.

Walgreens took its lumps in January after failing to mend its very public rift with pharmacy benefit management giant Express Scripts, reporting a 2.3% drop in sales for the month. But considering that the PBM’s millions of customers represented $5.3 billion in prescription sales for the 7,818-store drug chain in fiscal 2011, it could have been worse.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Walgreens is helping to redefine what it means to be a successful retail pharmacy operator. The proof is in this new direction that Walgreens is taking — approaching employers and payers with a comprehensive, cost-lowering strategy across that company's entire health spend, not just their prescription spend.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — The impact of the failed Express Scripts negotiations on Walgreens' sales has been significant to date, as evidenced by Walgreens' January sales release issued Friday.

Walgreens reported a sales decline of 2.3% for the month of January to $5.8 billion — the first month operating outside of the Express Scripts pharmacy network. A flu season that has yet to materialize also has had a significant impact on comparable sales figures.

Sales in comparable stores were down 4.6%, falling below analyst consensus of down 2.6%.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid's comps increased 2.2% for the month of January, compared with January 2011, the company said Thursday.

Announcing results of the four-week period that ended Saturday, the retail pharmacy chain said January front-end comps increased 2.7%, while pharmacy comps increased 2.1%, including a negative effect of 230 basis points from new generic introductions. Prescription count at comparable stores increased by 1.6%.