RETAIL NEWS

For those retailers bold enough to sniff out a fresh opportunity, at least as far as the mass merchant space is concerned, aromatherapy realized some rosy sales gains in 2016. Citing Nielsen data, Piping Rock reported the aromatherapy opportunity in mass is racing along at an annual growth trajectory of 121%, reaching $44 million for the 52 weeks ended Dec. 31, 2016 across all outlets combined.

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DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens Boots  Alliance named Steve Turner Walgreens VP and chief information officer, effective April 1.  

Turner will succeed Abhi Dhar, Walgreens current CIO, who announced in February his intent to resign his Walgreens post in favor of pursuing an entrepreneurial venture.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer is investing more than $375 million to build new stores and remodel existing stores in its six-state footprint. This investment includes the construction of seven new Meijer supercenters and 22 different remodel projects.

WASHINGTON — Reps. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, and Doris Matsui, D-Calif., both members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the DXM Abuse Prevention Act on Thursday in a bipartisan effort to prevent teen abuse of over-the-counter cough medicines containing the cough suppressant dextromethorphan, commonly referred to the DXM.

The bill would establish a national age-18 requirement for the purchase of the medicines containing DXM. Over the past several years,12 states have addressed this issue by passing similar legislation.

WASHINGTON — Reps. Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, on Thursday introduced H.R. 1316, the Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act, to protect taxpayers and the community pharmacists who serve them by requiring greater transparency from pharmacy benefit managers.

WASHINGTON — The Miami Dolphins had just completed an undefeated season, winning Super Bowl XII by a score of 14-7 over the Washington Redskins. Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song” was No. 1 on the Billboard charts.

The date was March 31, 1973, the last time initial jobless claims were lower than today’s figures, released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor. In March 1973, initial jobless claims were 222,000.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health on Thursday selected Epic as the electronic health record system for CVS Specialty’s care management programs.

According to CVS, the transition to Epic will help integrate and improve clinical processes for CVS Specialty, including Accordant, which provides care management program services for patients with rare, chronic diseases. This announcement expands the Company's use of the Epic EHR system beyond MinuteClinic which transitioned to the system in 2015.