In this Issue

Publix routinely makes strategic moves to enhance the customer experience in the pharmacy and health-and-wellness arena that are rooted in the customer service mindset that has made its supermarkets so popular.

Last fall the company introduced a new larger, triangular-shaped pill bottle that is designed to be easier to open. While the pill bottle redesign didn’t go as far as the award-winning program Target introduced a few years back, the move underscored the fact that Publix is a pharmacy innovator.

Wegmans Food Markets last summer introduced “Eat Well. Live Well.” stations located adjacent to its pharmacies that help showcase the links between health, wellness and a good diet.

Hannaford has been an innovator in the drive to bridge food and pharmacy. The chain’s dedication to health and wellness really gained attention in 2006 when it implemented Guiding Stars, the first storewide nutrition navigation system in the United States.

Not many retail companies would give their customers a vote on how they design their new stores. It’s just one of many ways that H-E-B works to cultivate millions of loyal consumers.

If you ask executives at Food City, it’s part of the role of a supermarket pharmacy operator to help its customers understand how healthy eating plays into overall health and wellness. It’s a responsibility they take pretty seriously.

In an effort to deliver to shoppers a whole health-focused shopping experience, Supervalu’s pharmacy and grocery teams are working closely together to develop innovative service offerings that cut across three platforms: preventive care, diabetes care and medication therapy management. The chain clearly is demonstrating its focus on being a one-stop health solution for its shoppers.

Nothing shows a retailer that its revitalization efforts are working quite like a thumbs-up from customers. For Winn-Dixie Stores, that vote of confidence came in mid-February, when its pharmacy business was among 40 U.S. companies honored as 2011 “customer service champions” by J.D. Power and Associates.

Regional operator Giant Eagle always has pushed the envelope with new store concepts, as evidenced by its high-end Market District grocery brand and Giant Eagle Express, a convenience store/gas station replete with a wide offering of food items and a full-service, drive-through pharmacy.