KROGER

CLEVELAND — ECRM on Thursday announced the launch of a series of reports and a new blog on retail circular ads. The new resources provide a unique perspective on retail promotions from Walmart, Kroger, Walgreens, Safeway, Best Buy, OfficeMax, Aldi and 160 additional retailers in the United States and Canada.

Using ECRM’s trade promotion expertise, these reports and blog entries will enable retailers and suppliers to manage more effective trade spending, ECRM stated.

CINCINNATI — Retail giant Kroger has named a new divisional president, replacing an executive who recently was promoted to SVP retail operations.

Sukanya Madlinger, who worked for Kroger for nearly 25 years, now will be president of the company's Cincinnati/Dayton division — which operates 110 stores in Cincinnati, Dayton, northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana — replacing Geoffrey Covert. Covert was named SVP retail operations for Kroger after the retirement of Paul Scutt.

MINNETONKA, Minn. — More retailers have signed on for UnitedHealthcare's prescription savings program that caters to Medicare Part D members.

Target, H-E-B, Hy-Vee, Publix Super Markets, Food Lion, Bloom, Harveys and Sweetbay Supermarket have joined the insurance company's Pharmacy Saver program, which allows members to purchase some scripts for $2 for 30-day and some 90-day supplies, and applies to hundreds of prescription drugs, including 8-of-the-10 most commonly used by UnitedHealthcare Medicare plan members.

CINCINNATI — In an effort to assure that its customers stay healthy this holiday season, Kroger is offering free flu shot vouchers to the Salvation Army and Feeding America, a leading domestic hunger-relief organization.

CINCINNATI — Just two weeks after announcing the exit of its SVP retail operations, Kroger announced a replacement on Friday.

Geoffrey Covert, a seasoned Kroger executive, will become SVP retail operations, effective Jan. 1. He will be responsible for leading the company's programs and processes focused on operating efficiency, store productivity and associate and customer safety, Kroger said. Prior to this position, Covert served as president of the company's Cincinnati/Dayton division for the past six years.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — The Little Clinic, which operates clinics inside select Kroger, King Soopers, Fry's Food Stores and Publix Super Markets, has announced the addition of the MultiPlan and PHCS Networks to its group of accepted provider networks.

MINNETONKA, Minn. — Could the economy and the bare-knuckles competition that now defines pharmacy retailing lower the price bar even further for widely used generic drugs? It’s already happening.


CINCINNATI — Kroger's third-quarter revenue, including fuel, leaped 5.9% to $18.7 billion, the supermarket giant reported Thursday.

Excluding fuel sales, total sales increased 3.1% in the third quarter, which ended Nov. 6, the company noted. Earnings per share for the company rose to 32 cents per share, totaling $202.2 million. During the same period last year, Kroger reported a net loss of $874.9 million, or $1.35 per diluted share, after the company's $1.05 billion write-down of its Ralphs division.