Top Retailers

DALLAS — Walgreens was awarded a Colloquy Loyalty Award in recognition of its Balance Rewards loyalty program, the group announced Tuesday.  

PROVIDENCE, R. I. — More than 7,600 people from around the region and globe turned out on Sunday to participate in the 24th annual CVS Caremark Downtown 5K.

(The State House in Providence served as a backdrop to the start of the 2013 CVS Caremark Downtown 5K. Photo Credit: scottmasonphoto.com)

Community pharmacy’s long struggle to win professional recognition and a full seat at the health provider table is finally finding some traction as health systems, individual healthcare providers, health plans and plan payers begin to really connect the dots and build a workable framework for a more patient-centric, evidence-based and cost-effective system of care in the United States.

CINCINNATI — Kroger on Tuesday announced it has committed $3 million in donations for local breast cancer initiatives across the country to support National Breast Cancer Awareness month in October. 

This will be the seventh year since Kroger began the Giving Hope a Hand initiative. By the end of 2013, Kroger will have donated more than $24 million to support breast cancer research, education and services since 2006, the grocer reported.

CINCINNATI — Kroger on Monday announced that Chris Hjelm, SVP and chief information officer at Kroger, was a recipient of the Fisher-Hopper Prize for Lifetime Achievement in CIO Leadership from the Fisher CIO Leadership Program at the University of California-Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

Hjelm was selected by a group of his peers for the enduring impact he has had on not only Kroger, but also on FedEx and Orbitz. 

CHICAGO — The majority of manufacturer engagements are not aligned with retailers’ core strategic goals, and do not create real value in the eyes of the retailer. Today’s winning companies are able to identify and leverage the unique hidden assets of their brands, and build a business around agile, transparent, retailer/manufacturer collaboration — experts call it “co-creation.”

Rite Aid reported its second quarter 2014 earnings Thursday, posting its fourth-consecutive profitable quarter, its passing the 1,000 mark in the number of stores it has converted to the Wellness format and more than 930,000 members of Wellness65+, the latest extension to its Wellness+ loyalty care program, aimed at seniors.

CHICAGO — Call it the Academy Awards of the shopper marketing business.

The Shopper Marketing Expo, scheduled for Oct. 8-10, here, at the Navy Pier, will once again host the Path to Purchase Institute’s annual Design of the Times merchandising display competition.