Top Retailers

AUSTIN, TX — Whole Foods Market said total sales for the first quarter ended Jan. 19 climbed 10% to a record $4.2 billion. But those results reportedly missed analysts’ expectations, and the company has lowered its earnings outlook for 2014 as a result.

Momentum at Whole Foods — as well as shares — slipped. Comparable store sales for the quarter increased 5.4%, compared to a 7.2% increase in the prior year.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid on Wednesday named the two winners of the 2013 Favorite Pharmacy Team Member contest — a pharmacy cashier from Cliffside Park, N.J., and a loyal customer of the company's store in Mansfield, Mass. Both were selected at random from more than 14,000 entries in the 10th annual contest honoring Rite Aid's pharmacy team members for their commitment to customer care and service.

NASHVILLE — The Little Clinic continues to expand its geographic footprint with openings this month inside Kroger stores in the Cincinnati region and Louisville, Ky.

On Feb. 12, the company opened its newest clinic inside the Kroger Marketplace in Middletown, Ohio.

"Wherever you are in Cincinnati, one of our clinics is not far away," said Ken Patric, chief medical officer for The Little Clinic. "Adding additional clinics in the area allows a greater number of consumers close access to convenient, quality healthcare.”

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — New research conducted by CVS Caremark and Brigham and Women's Hospital identifies five key features of Value-Based Insurance Design plans that are associated with the greatest impact on medication adherence.

The study, which is published online Thursday in Health Affairs and also will appear in the journal's March issue, was funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization Initiative.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer is perhaps best known for the freshness it offers in the grocery aisles, but more and more Meijer customers will now look across the center aisle for bright colors, geometric patterns and advice thanks to a major initiative to upgrade its apparel offerings, the retailer announced Wednesday.

DENVER — Pulse Beverage Corp. announced that it is expanding its product line with the debut of Natural Cabana Coconut Water and Natural Cabana Pineapple Coconut Water. The new additions will be available in Albertsons grocery stores later this month.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Wednesday presented research on how value-based insurance design programs can be optimized by targeting the sickest, least adherent and most costly patients. These findings, presented at the 2014 PBMI Drug Benefit Conference in Las Vegas, examined how the VBID model can be most successful by reaching these targeted employee sub-populations.

PLANO, Texas — The Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute recently released its Specialty Drug Benefit Report, sponsored by Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy. The 2014 edition highlights trends important to specialty pharmacy, including emerging cost-control strategies and challenges affecting benefit design and patient care.