RETAIL NEWS

SEATTLE -- Bartell Drugs is now offering three solutions for persons with visual impairment who cannot read the print on their prescription drug container labels. 

Patients can receive either ScripTalk audible labels, ScripView large print labels, or Braille labels based on their need.  Accessible prescription labels help low-vision patients safely and independently manage their medications and communicate more effectively with their pharmacist about their prescription needs.

CLACKAMAS, Ore. — Earth Mama Angel Baby has introduced two new gift bags: one designed for new moms who have gone back to work, but want to pump to continue their breast-feeding journey; and one to help create a lovely lavender nighttime routine to help encourage baby sleep. The Milk-to-Go Pumping Companion Essentials bag, with a suggested retail price of $34.99, is an eco-friendly, reusable insulated bag that contains Organic Milkmaid Tea, Natural Nipple Butter and Happy Mama Body Wash.

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.

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.)

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.)

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.