HEALTH

Walgreens leads the way to ‘well’
Walgreens not only is the “Way to Well,” it also is the “Way to Stay Well,” as evidenced by this shelf talker in the dietary supplement aisle that contains a 44-page pamphlet titled “Vitamins & Supplements Q&A: Your A to Z Shopping Guide.” 

Inside are reasons to take supplements to both improve health and prevent disease. Specific supplement topics include the best supplements to take to help manage healthy blood-glucose levels, as well as bone and joint, cognitive, heart, immune and prenatal health.  
‘Pro’-active health at Wegmans
Wegmans hosts a bevy of natural solutions (e.g., gluten-free foods, supplements and homeopathic solutions) just outside its produce department, including this refrigerated unit replete with probiotics and flax-seed oil supplements. That places the mass-oriented grocer more in line with the kind of natural wellness position you would expect to find at a Whole Foods or other natural grocer.

Homeopathy helps grow baskets

Groupings of homeopathic pediatric cough-cold solutions, like those pictured here at a central Pennsylvania CVS, have become more the norm given the safety and efficacy debate around several children’s cough-cold ingredients over the past few years, the spate of recalls and the more recent media-driven concern over accidental overdosing. 
CVS toasts ‘To Your Health’ with screenings

CVS/pharmacy is taking its focus on preventive care to the streets with its 2011 To Your Health program, staging more than 800 events around the country and screening patients for diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, bone density and vision. Each To Your Health event offers customers access to as much as $150 worth of health screenings, as well as medical reviews with CVS pharmacists; consultations with doctors; dental and chiropractic screenings; and referrals for mammograms and pap smears in certain locations. 
Sam’s Club gunning for FDM market

Growing the health-and-wellness business remains a top priority for Sam’s Club as the warehouse club operator has identified those key categories as areas where it can demonstrate value, drive member loyalty and gain market share. 

Sam’s has high expectations for health and wellness, along with food and consumables, as it looks to deliver on its brand promise of “savings made simple” and maintain the same-store sales momentum experienced throughout 2010 that culminated with a 2.7% gain in the fourth quarter. 
'Cougar Town' star takes center stage in Pepto-Bismol campaign

CINCINNATI — In line with the annual celebration of Cinco de Mayo, Pepto-Bismol has tapped actress Busy Philipps, star of ABC's "Cougar Town," for a campaign themed after the holiday.
Harris Teeter blends wellness, pharmacy

 One way for a supermarket to convey its health-and-wellness commitment to customers is to build a marketing campaign around it.  

In Harris Teeter’s case, the campaign is “Yourwellness.” Now in its sixth year, the initiative offers “evidence-based guidance on important health issues” and help with nutritional choices throughout the store, according to the company. 
Walmart gets back in on the action

Action Alley — branded feature displays and four-sided fixtures in the main aisles — marked its return to all Walmart stores this past holiday season, and signified Walmart’s return to promotional intensity. 
Retailers, consumers seeing purple

Customers are seeing purple again — reminiscent of another switch that took advantage of the eye-catching color purple. Sanofi-Aventis through its Chattem division in March launched Allegra, the last of the second-generation antihistamines. And purple-powered displays, like this in a Walmart in Lancaster, Pa., dotted the retail pharmacy landscape. 
Accommodating a growing trend

The time is now to move any breast-feeding products from the floor of the baby care aisle to eye level — as Walgreens has done here — because mom’s interest in the category received two big boosts earlier this year.