WALGREENS

NEW YORK — Drug stores may be best positioned to navigate any headwinds whipped up by rising fuel costs and may even benefit from them, a Credit Suisse analysis published Friday found.

CHICAGO — Walgreens' chief marketing officer Kim Feil was inducted into the In-Store Marketing Institute Hall of Fame Thursday morning in Chicago.

Feil was a seasoned consumer packaged goods marketer when she joined Walgreens in fall 2008. As company CEO Greg Wasson recently noted, she propelled Walgreens from being a good advertiser to a world-class marketing organization.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — The board of directors for Walgreens declared a quarterly dividend that was 27.3% above last year.

The dividend, valued at 17.5 cents per share, is payable June 11 to shareholders of record May 20.

Walgreens noted that it has paid a dividend in 314 straight quarters (or 78 years) and has raised its dividend for 35 consecutive years.

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Infopia America last week announced that its new SmartDiabetes product line has launched in 284 Walgreens drug stores in central and northeast Florida. The central Florida Walgreens region includes stores in Jacksonville, Orlando, Lakeland, Daytona Beach and Melbourne.

MIAMI — The utilization of specialty pharmacy is projected to steadily increase, Walgreens VP clinical affairs David Lorber told attendees Tuesday at the Pinsonault Associates Managed Markets Summit, which accentuates a need to augment patient compliance and help payers get a handle on what have become rapidly shifting economics.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — It’s interesting how things can change over the course of a year, and the huge growth of Rite Aid’s Wellness+ program provides a good example.

(THE NEWS: Rite Aid finishes tough fiscal year, but Q4 shows improvements. For the full story, click here.)

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Friday helped launch the nation’s first privately funded and comprehensive electric vehicle charging network with an initial station at the Walgreens drug store at Belt Line Road and Montfort Drive in Dallas.

The drug store retailer is working with NRG Energy to install high-powered rapid charging eVgo Freedom Stations at 18 locations across the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens VP clinical affairs David Lorber will present during the Pinsonault Associates Managed Markets Summit on April 12 in Miami, Fla., the retailer announced Thursday.

The session, titled "Employer Issues in Specialty Pharmacy," will examine concerns for payers, including cost management and containment, benefit and coverage decisions, formulary and medical policy, pipeline management, provider network, member satisfaction and disruption, and compliance.