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Upon the closing of Supervalu's sale of five pharmacy banners to Albertsons LLC, long-time Supervalu vet Dan Salemi will assume the role of president of pharmacy at the new Albertsons LLC. Salemi will succeed Supervalu president pharmacy operations Chris Dimos, who will stay on board until the deal is done. 

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid has expanded its telemedicine service to 58 more stores, the retail pharmacy chain said Friday.

Rite Aid said the NowClinic Online Care service were available at stores in Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The service gives customers access to care, via a secure online video connection, from OptumHealth doctors and nurses. The company originally unveiled the program at nine stores in Detroit in 2011.

Rite Aid announced Friday that it had expanded its "virtual clinic" model to additional markets, now offering NowClinic Online Care service in 58 stores.

Retail clinics are an area in which Rite Aid has not invested to the same degree as Walgreens and CVS, but NowClinic shows that there are more ways to offer clinical services in a retail pharmacy setting than building an extra clinic. In 2011, Rite Aid became the first to provide such virtual clinics in a retail pharmacy setting when it launched the program as a pilot in nine stores in Detroit.

LANDOVER, Md. — Ahold USA banner Giant Food of Landover, Md., presented a check for $10,000 to the National Center for Children and Families at a Giant store in Washington, D.C., to mark Black History Month and the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. NCCF executive director Sheryl Brissett Chapman, recently featured in Giant's Profiles in Excellence publication, accepted the donation.

NEW YORK — Publix may join Royal Ahold later this month in making a bid for the more than 200 Harris Teeter supermarkets, according to a report published Friday by Bloomberg, citing people with knowledge of the situation. 

Virginia and North Carolina would represent new markets for Publix if the Florida-based grocer acquired Harris Teeter. Publix has already marked North Carolina for expansion with plans to open two stores in the state in 2014. 

LANDOVER, Md. — Supermarket chain Giant Food of Landover, Md., will focus on the employment of transitioning veterans and their family members as it designates March as its Military Appreciation Month, the Ahold USA banner said Friday.

Giant-Landover will work with the USO of Metropolitan Washington and USO Delaware for a third year, sponsoring an in-store giving campaign that will support programs from both across the Mid-Atlantic region.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — First Lady Michelle Obama paid a special visit to a local Walmart Neighborhood Market store on Thursday to praise the efforts of the retail giant on its initiatives to put healthier, more affordable items on its shelves and thus, into the shopping carts of its millions of customers.

Three years ago, the First Lady created the "Let’s Move" healthy food initiative and the following year Walmart unveiled five broad commitments that aligned with her vision for ending childhood obesity within a generation.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Kmart is distributing extra points to members of its loyalty program to mitigate the effects of high living costs, the retailer said Friday.

The mass merchandise retail chain said it would distribute more than $150 million worth of points to Shop Your Way Rewards members across the country, allowing them to redeem the extra points through March 7 on such items as groceries, clothing, electronics and home goods.