Top Retailers

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway has launched its annual April fundraising campaign to benefit people with disabilities, the supermarket chain said Monday.

The company said The Safeway Foundation, its philanthropic arm, had launched the campaign to benefit Easter Seals, Special Olympics and other groups, saying its Support for People with Disabilities campaign had contributed more than $140 million.

PHILADELPHIA — Walmart customers will enjoy a cool reason to shop at the mass merchandise company this summer as Mini Melts ice cream automated kiosks rollout nationwide.

"We are grateful for the opportunity to serve Walmart customers throughout the United States, by not only providing a premium ice cream product, but by doing so consistently with Walmart's low-price philosophy," said Dan Kilcoyne, president of Mini Melts USA.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark elected on March 29 former Johnson & Johnson CEO William Weldon to serve on its board of directors, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Weldon is the former chairman of the board and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, having served in those positions from 2002 until his retirement as CEO in April 2012 and his retirement from the board in December 2012. Weldon previously served in a variety of senior executive positions during his 41-year career with J&J.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens has picked media-communications firm OMD as its new media planning and buying agency of record, the retail pharmacy chain said.

Walgreens said OMD would be responsible for buying activity related to traditional, multicultural, digital and mobile media planning and buying in the United States, including Puerto Rico.

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Walmart and Target are ramping up offerings of private-label products directed at multicultural and health-conscious consumers, according to a new study.

The findings were part of a study by market research firm Packaged Facts on mass merchandisers, "The Supercenter Grocery Shopper: U.S. Consumer Patterns at Walmart, Target, Meijer and Fred Meyer." The report noted that mass merchandisers in recent years have marketed private-label food and beverage products that rival those of national brands in price, value and quality.

Google has officially unveiled its testing program for Google Shopping Express, its new online delivery service in the San Francisco Bay area, signing up with retailers like Target, Walgreens and Raley's to allow customers to receive items directly from store shelves at their homes within a day.

CARLISLE, Pa. — Ahold USA has appointed Paul Scorza as its chief information officer, the supermarket operator said Friday.

Ahold USA, the U.S. subsidiary of Netherlands-based Royal Ahold, said Scorza would assume the new position on Monday, based in Quincy, Mass., overseeing all Ahold USA information management functions, with a focus on systems and business processes to improve efficiency, effectiveness, controls and operations, reporting to EVP finance and CFO Paula Price.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — As Reuters reported yesterday, Walmart is considering a new delivery system that would have in-store customers deliver packages to online buyers. The delivering customers would receive a discount off their shopping bills.