WALGREENS

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — It couldn't have been choreographed better if Bob Fosse himself had orchestrated Walgreens' annual shareholders' meeting. It started on Monday, Jan. 9, when Walgreens' executive team entertained reporters to unveil the latest flagship location on State and Randolph. That evening, Illinois governor Pat Quinn and Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel stood with flagship architect Joe Magnacca and officially christened the new store before Tuesday's grand opening.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — That one of the latest attempts to require prescriptions for cough-cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine appears headed for failure isn't just good news for the retailers that sell those products and the people who need them, it also may encourage those trying to curb the manufacture and use of methamphetamine to focus their efforts on methods that already work, such as the National Precursor Log Exchange, also known as NPLEx, a real-time, industry-funded electronic system that tracks sales of PSE products and is

NEW YORK — Walgreens on Thursday took its failed negotiations with Express Scripts to Twitter, paying the social media site to promote the hashtag #ILoveWalgreens and setting off a barrage of tweets by tweeting "It's time to take a stand against @ExpressScripts. Tell them people want a choice by tweeting hashtag #ILoveWalgreens."

PROVO, Utah — Pharmacy technician students at an online school will be able to perform externships with a major retail pharmacy chain, under a partnership the two companies announced.

Career Step said it would partner with Walgreens to allow students to work at local Walgreens stores after gaining a solid foundation of pharmacy technician knowledge in the program. Externship will typically consist of 180 practical hours.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Thursday declared a regular quarterly dividend of 22.5 cents per share, a 28.6% increase over the year-ago dividend. The dividend is payable March 12, 2012, to shareholders of record Feb. 17, 2012.

Walgreens has paid a dividend in 317 straight quarters (more than 79 years) and has raised its dividend for 36 consecutive years. Over the last five years, Walgreens' annual dividend rate has increased from 31 cents per share to 90 cents per share, resulting in a compound annual growth rate of 23.8%.

CHICAGO — Walgreens on Tuesday brought the latest example of its flagship retail pharmacy to life here in Chicago, tantalizing its hometown crowd with departments most shoppers normally wouldn't associate with a pharmacy: a fully stocked sushi bar, quick-and-fresh deli offerings and a self-serve yogurt bar adjacent to a juice bar that, along with the healthy-for-you selection of juice, offers the “double-rich chocolate malted milk” that the retailer invented in 1922.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Winn-Dixie on Tuesday joined the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance, an initiative aimed at tipping the scales against the epidemic of diabetes, prediabetes and obesity by expanding access to community-based programs that use evidence-based approaches to help prevent and control diabetes.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — After announcing a special discount for Express Scripts members on the annual membership fee for the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club, the drug store chain said its PSC gained nearly 125,000 customers in the first week of the new year.