Top Retailers

Kmart achieves major fundraising milestone
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Kmart has raised more than $100 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, more than any other corporate partner in the history of St. Jude.
Walgreens Balance Rewards used in study of real-world health tracking behaviors
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Monday announced findings from a collaborative study with the Scripps Translational Science Institute suggesting that automated health tracking can significantly improve long-term health engagement.

“This is the first chapter of a remarkable collaboration with Walgreens, enabling us to understand real world connectivity with mobile device health applications, along with behavior and outcome patterns, in an exceptionally large and diverse cohort,” stated Eric Topol, director, STSI.

Target reaching out more to Latino consumers

Target is spending more this year on Spanish language marketing as it looks to draw more Latino customers into its stores, according to a new report from Marketplace.org.

Target's spending on Spanish-language TV is up 67% over the year for the holiday season. Its ads running now on English- and Spanish-language TV networks feature bilingual actors.

Read more about Target's outreach to Hispanic consumers by cliking here.
How Amazon and Walmart going ‘small’ can affect drug store retailers

SEATTLE and BENTONVILLE, Ark. — The state of brick-and-mortar retail appears poised to change significantly in the near future with Amazon and Walmart introducing smaller grocery and convenience locations in early December.

Amazon introduced its first Amazon Go small-format location, spanning 1,800 square feet in downtown Seattle, a step beyond its current Amazon Fresh online ordering service. The store is currently open as a beta version to employees only and is expected to open to the general public in early 2017.
Walmart makes $250K donation to Tennessee wildfires

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart and the Walmart Foundation will provide $250,000 in support to help relief efforts for those affected by the Tennessee wildfires in Sevier County.

The wildfires have killed 14 people, injured an additional 175 people and damaged or destroyed more than 2,400 homes and businesses, according to media reports.
Costco Q1 earnings rise 13%

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco Wholesale reported 2017 fiscal first-quarter net income rose 13% to $545 million ($1.24 per share), compared to $480 million ($1.09 per diluted share) during its 2016 fiscal first quarter. 2017 fiscal Q1 earnings benefitted from a non-recurring $51 million legal settlement.

For the quarter ended Nov. 20, net sales enjoyed a 3% percent year-over-year increase to $27.47 billion. In the United States, comparable store sales rose 1 percent year over year. Total revenues increased to $28.1 billion, helped by a $37 million increase in membership fees.
Ahold Delhaize unveils ‘Better Together’ strategy

LONDON — Ahold Delhaize introduced its “Better Together” strategy, intended to capture benefits of international scale combined with local brands and associate expertise to drive profitable growth in its supermarkets, ecommerce and smaller formats, during its Capital Markets Day here Wednesday.
Kroger picks up 4,000 veterans as part of one-day Honoring our Heroes hiring event

CINCINNATI -- Kroger on Tuesday announced that as a result of its one-day Honoring our Heroes hiring event held Nov. 9, the company hired more than 4,000 military veterans and their family members.

"I'm so proud of our store teams for their outstanding efforts during our national hiring event in November," stated Tim Massa, Kroger's group VP human resources and labor relations. "We can all be proud of hiring 4,000 veterans and family members in one day. We are delighted to welcome them to our Kroger family."
View from the Summit

As we ship this issue to the printer, it has been less than 24 hours since Drug Store News hosted its 18th annual Industry Issues Summit. What began almost two decades ago as a closed-door discussion between a handful of retail merchandising executives and a few vendors in a small hotel meeting room has since evolved to become one of the signature thought leadership and networking events on the industry calendar.
Kroger chief digital officer retiring, to be succeeded by customer engagement guru

CINCINNATI -- The chief commercial officer and chief information officer of 84.51°, a customer engagement firm and subsidiary of Kroger, will succeed Kevin Dougherty, Kroger group VP and chief digital officer following his retirement Jan. 27, the retailer announced Tuesday.