RITE AID

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid is making its pharmacists available free of charge to seniors and their caregivers for personalized Medicare Part D consultations. Seniors can also use Rite Aid's dedicated Medicare Advisor comparison tools online at RiteAid.com/medicareadvisor.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid pharmacists on Long Island in New York state are participating in a diabetes initiative run by health insurer UnitedHealth Group, the two companies said Thursday.

The pharmacists are part of the Diabetes Control Program, itself part of UnitedHealth's Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance. The program is available to residents of the island enrolled in UnitedHealthcare's employer-sponsored health plans.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid has appointed president and CEO John Standley as chairman, the retail pharmacy chain said Friday.

Rite Aid announced that its board of directors had elected Standley to replace current chairman Mary Sammons, effective June 21. Sammons has served as chairman since June 2007 and plans to step down at the company's annual stockholder meeting.

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CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid has closed an offering of new debt from which it plans to generate funding for a buyback of older debt, the retailer said Tuesday.

Rite Aid announced the closing of its offering of $421 million in senior notes with a 9.25% interest rate and due in 2020. The company plans to use money from the offering to buy back 9.375% senior notes due 2015. As of Monday night, $296.3 million worth of the old notes had been put up for sale.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid category manager Paul Margeson has resigned, a company spokeswoman said.

Rumors surfaced last week that Margeson, who managed the pain care, gastrointestinal, smoking-cessation and upper-respiratory categories for the Camp Hill, Pa.-based retail pharmacy chain, had resigned.

"We thank him for his contributions to the company," Rite Aid spokeswoman Ashley Flower told Drug Store News, adding that the company intends to fill the position.

NEW YORK — Consumers gravitate toward traditional pharmacies for their everyday health-and-wellness needs, according to the "2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend" survey released Monday. Among retail pharmacy operations, Walgreens enjoyed the greatest brand equity among consumers based on top consumer scores in "familiarity" and "purchase consideration" categories. Overall, Walgreens' brand equity was tabulated at 69.9, CVS/pharmacy came in at 67.4 and Rite Aid 62.5.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — A new campaign by Rite Aid is targeting nail polish customers.

The Camp Hill, Pa.-based retail pharmacy chain announced Thursday that it had launched the seven-week "Nail Extravaganza" campaign to engage beauty shoppers around the trend of using multiple nail polish shades.