WALGREENS

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then there are plenty of folks beholding Walgreens and its New York palette, Duane Reade. So it should come as no surprise that Walgreens is positioning its heavy hitters against the beauty category, given the number of recent changes Walgreens has made across its beauty facing.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Wednesday promoted Mike Spear to divisional merchandise manager of the retailer’s personal care division and announced that Lauren Vondrasek is transitioning to the company’s beauty merchandising unit, which is headed by Barbara Larson.

Spear has more than 20 years of retail experience, most recently as director of category planning at Walgreens.

CHICAGO — Johns Hopkins Medicine and Walgreens on Wednesday announced an agreement between the two companies that will promote collaboration on population-based research.

Also part of the agreement, Johns Hopkins and Walgreens will jointly review and develop protocols to improve outcomes of patients with chronic diseases and explore the development of new models for improving care for individuals.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Success is often one of the biggest blind spots a company can have, because you’re so busy doing well you don’t have the time to assess what it is you’re doing. That is one of the core reasons for being for the Mack Elevation Forum, “a share group on steroids,” described program founder Dan Mack, EVP of strategic business development for the Swanson Group, which hosted its most recent meeting on April 29 here at the Hilton Scottsdale.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — It’s often said that yesterday’s science fiction is tomorrow’s reality, and while automakers have yet to unveil flying cars similar to the ones in “Blade Runner,” the integration of WellDoc’s services with Ford Motor’s SYNC technology serves as a prime example.

(THE NEWS: Ford developing health care in the dashboard. For the full story, click here.)

FLUSHING, N.Y. — The New York Mets announced the launch of the "Honorary Captain" program presented by Duane Reade, which gives fans the opportunity to be an honorary team captain and bring out the Mets lineup card before one of the Subway Series games, which will be held July 1 to 3 at Citi Field.

Winners of the "Honorary Captain" program presented by Duane Reade also will receive four VIP tickets to one of the Subway Series games and a Mets jersey. The program also is sponsored by Precise, from the maker of Tylenol.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The Louisiana State Senate has given the green light to legislation that would expand pharmacy's ability to administer immunizations, and now the House of Representatives is slated to vote on the legislation in the coming days. The passage of SB 60 is important because expanding the pharmacist's ability to administer vaccinations is a relatively low-cost way to expand access and ultimately improve outcomes.

SAN FRANCISCO — Walgreens is test-marketing healthier-for-you foods similar to the “food desert” pilot in Chicago across 30 area stores here, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.

An Outer Richmond location began stocking fresh food and just-in-time meals last week, the paper reported, and the pilot program will roll out to the remaining stores over the course of the summer.