In this Issue

Two years ago, CVS Pharmacy made the bold decision to walk away from tobacco. It was the right move for a lot of reasons, but the fact remained: There was a $2 billion sales hole that needed to be plugged.

(To download Special Report: Double Down on Health, click here.)

A lot of brands, both indie and mainstream, are rethinking their strategies when it comes to beauty products aimed at multicultural consumers.

(To view the full Category Review, click here.)

In the slightly less than one year since CVS Health acquired all of Target’s 1,669 pharmacies and 79 retail clinics, the company has completed the process of turning them into CVS Pharmacy and MinuteClinic locations, converting as many as 150 stores per week at the peak of the integration process.

(To download Special Report: Double Down on Health, click here.)

CVS Health rocked the industry in 2014 when it removed cigarettes and tobacco from its pharmacy shelves in an effort to promote health and reduce chronic illnesses associated with tobacco-use. Now, the retailer is taking yet another stance against tobacco-use with a hefty $50 million initiative to help deliver the nation’s first tobacco-free generation.

(To download Special Report: Double Down on Health, click here.)

The demographic that’s driving much of the 10.3% growth across external analgesics may come as a surprise because it isn’t an arthritis-suffering baby boomer.

(To view the full Category Review, click here.)

Boehringer Ingelheim is looking to spark some excitement across the antacids aisle with the June launch of its Duo Fusion combination antacid, “from the makers of Zantac,” which couples a fast-acting heartburn remedy with an H2 blocker to provide both immediate and longer-lasting relief from heartburn. “We saw an opportunity to trade up consumers from antacids to an H2 [blocker],” said Marc Rovner, general manager Boehringer Ingelheim Consumer Healthcare, in an interview with Drug Store News.

Internal analgesics is slightly down in retail sales with a 0.6% decrease year-over-year. As the largest segment in internal analgesics, tablets were down 0.4%. This performance was driven down primarily by private label and Bayer products. Private-label internal analgesics were down 5%, and Bayer was down 4%. Pfizer saw no change in sales. McNeil’s return to the market did well, reflecting a 17% increase over the same time period last year. The external analgesic category was up 7% year-over-year.

Not too long after Unilever’s blockbuster deal with Dollar Shave Club was announced, another online razor company made its own news. Harry’s inked a deal to sell through Target, complete with an inline presentation and an endcap decked out with a huge Harry’s signature razor.

(To view the full Shave Report, click here.)