RITE AID

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid is renewing its diabetes extension for Wellness+ and offering free screenings at all of its Wellness stores to mark American Diabetes Month, the retail pharmacy chain said Monday.

The battle to capture and retain customers in a world where price, convenience and even customer service have become commoditized is in full swing. “The risk is you end up in a loyalty war [where] companies begin to use the loyalty scheme or the loyalty component of [the card] as another form of price escalation,” warned Bryon Pearson, president of LoyaltyOne and contributing editor to Colloquy, a magazine that has covered the loyalty marketing industry since 1990. “The intelligence that sits behind these programs is where the real value is,” he said.

Improving medication adherence in specialty pharmacy could be equivalent to introducing a new blockbuster drug. That’s how Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy president and CEO Phil Hagerman put it at Drug Store News’ Specialty Pharmacy Roundtable two years ago. 


LEMOYNE, Pa. — An interactive kiosk that allows customers to order prescription glasses and contact lenses online, a special shelf for diabetes products and a new interior design are among the newest features at Rite Aid’s newest version of its Wellness store in Lemoyne, Pa. A path of wooden flooring leads directly to the store’s pharmacy, whose immediate surrounding area has been cleared of merchandise to give it a more open look.

Rite Aid was the first to fold in a health-driven component to its loyalty program; as participants move up the Wellness+ ladder, they earn health-related perks, like free healthcare assessments.

Wellness+ membership grew 8% to 25 million, during the company’s recently reported second quarter. Members accounted for 74% of front-end sales, compared with 69% one year ago, as well as 68% of prescription sales.

NEW YORK — The Northeast is still recovering from one of the worst disasters it has ever faced. Many residents remain without electrical power, while others have lost their entire homes, businesses, workplaces and in a growing number of cases, their lives.

CAMP HILL, Pa. – Rite Aid got a boost in its monthly same-store sales from Hurricane Sandy, the company said Thursday.

Announcing its October sales results, the retail pharmacy chain said same-store sales decreased by 1.1%. Front-end comps increased by 1.5%, while pharmacy comps decreased by 2.3%, including a negative effect of 971 basis points from new generic introductions; same-store prescription count increased by 4.7%.

NEW YORK — Hurricane Sandy may have shut down lower Manhattan for a few days, but research analyst Ed Kelly of Credit Suisse was bullish on how the storm system may have whipped up front-end sales for pharmacy operators.