Top Retailers

AMSTERDAM — Ahold is buying back about $650 million worth of shares, with plans to finalize the deal within 12 months, the Dutch retail company said Monday.

Ahold — which operates the Stop & Shop, Giant-Carlisle and Giant-Landover supermarket banners and the Peapod online grocery service in the United States through its Ahold USA subsidiary — said the purpose of the share-buyback program was to return value to shareholders.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Empowering Women Together, an online destination on Walmart.com, gives shoppers who want to buy unique and interesting products the opportunity to do so while supporting small women-owned businesses around the world, the retailer announced. At launch, Empowering Women Together will offer shoppers more than 200 items from 19 businesses in nine countries.

An oft-cited 1998 report, recently repeated again by the surgeon general in the January/ February 2012 "Public Health Report," estimated that 125,000 U.S. citizens die each year due to complications related to adherence. Also worrisome is the statistic that one-third to one-half of all patients don't take medication as prescribed, and according to a 2011 study by Harvard, Brigham and Women's Hospital and CVS, up to one-quarter of these never fill prescriptions at all.

By now you probably have heard about "Walgreens University," the internal education center the company opened last month, complete with technology-enhanced classrooms, a mock drug store and video-conferencing capabilities for employee educational programs.

Competing in the new age of retail, where bricks, clicks and anything in between compete for a larger share of the omnichannel customer, will require new skill sets and a generally better-educated workforce. The winners will create a more personalized shopping experience that leverages the expertise in their stores.

OutcomesMTM, a medication therapy management delivery system, last week recognized its top chain and independent pharmacies for 2012. Walgreens and Kerr Drug were named top large pharmacy chain and top regional pharmacy chain, respectively. 

MTM matters, and people are keeping score. And it's something you can expect to see more of in the age of accountable care and star-based quality ratings.  

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — A nonprofit group that provides youth football, dance and cheerleading programs across the country has named MinuteClinic as its official sports physical provider, MinuteClinic said Thursday.

MinuteClinic, part of CVS Caremark, said sports physicals are offered seven days a week with no appointment necessary at more than 625 CVS/pharmacy stores across the country, and the collaboration, with Pop Warner Little Scholars, is designed to offer parents convenient and affordable options to obtain required sports physicals for their children.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid's same-store sales for February 2013 decreased by 3.6% over the previous year, including a 1.3% decrease in front-end same-store sales and a 4.7% decrease in pharmacy same-store sales, the retail pharmacy chain said Thursday.

Front-end comps attributable to flu-related OTC products were flat, while pharmacy comps included a negative effect of 695 basis points from new generic introductions. Same-store prescription count increased 0.3%, including a 0.1% decrease attributable to flu shots and prescription flu drugs.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Thursday announced plans to build what the company believes will be the nation’s first net-zero energy retail store, which engineers predict will produce energy equal to or greater than it consumes.