RITE AID

NEW YORK — Rumors have been circulating that Walmart may be out to buy Rite Aid, though nothing has been confirmed yet, according to published reports.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid is launching new flavors of its private-label Thrifty Ice Cream in California stores, the retail pharmacy chain said Wednesday.

The launch comes ahead of National Ice Cream Day on Sunday, which President Ronald Reagan launched in 1984.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid announced Thursday changes in its human resources and operations departments.

The 4,700-store chain named Brian Fiala as EVP human resources and Robert Thompson as EVP store operations. Rite Aid also appointed Bill Romine as SVP of the chain’s Western division.

Fiala previously served as EVP store operations, having joined the company in 2007 after working for 24 years at Target. He replaces Steve Parsons, who is leaving the company to take another position, and will report to president and CEO John Standley.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Cosmetic Promotions will sponsor Rite Aid’s Glam Camp Back-to-School program for the fourth year in a row, the beauty marketing and promotional company said.

NEENAH, Wis. — Santal Solutions last week announced its dietary supplement Assurance Blood Health Support has gained distribution through Rite Aid and Walgreens.

“We are excited that Assurance Blood Health Support is on the shelves of major retailers,” Santal president Dennis Torkko said. “This reinforces the strength of the product and provides an all-natural option for those individuals that are concerned about blood sugar, cholesterol and triglyceride levels.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — H. D. Smith, the fourth-largest national pharmaceutical wholesaler, on Tuesday named Mark de Bruin to the post of corporate VP managed care.

In his new position at H. D. Smith, 29-year industry veteran de Bruin will be responsible for the company's third party network, creating and maintaining an alliance of prescription and healthcare service providers.


NEW YORK — The race is on to capture tomorrow’s click-and-pick shopper — that multichannel consumer who, with a click, wields her phone as an omniscient shopping tool and then either picks her product off the shelf or picks where that product will be waiting for her, be it at a nearby store or in her mailbox. 


Overdrive.


Increasingly, chains that traditionally have not been major forces in food retailing are making bigger commitments than ever to fresh — including meat, produce and dairy — in an effort not only to help solve the nation’s growing health crisis and expand Americans’ access to nutritious food options, but also to create new reasons for customers to shop their stores.