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AMSTERDAM — Keeping stores open during Hurricane Sandy was one of the factors that contributed to an increase in total store sales and comps in the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2012 for Ahold USA, the supermarket operator's Dutch parent company said Thursday.

Ahold attributed its 4.3% increase in sales in the fourth quarter, to $6.1 billion, partially to the Hurricane Sandy effort. The quarter also saw comps increase by 2.4%, while full year sales were $25.8 billion, a 3.1% over 2011, as comps increased by 1.4%.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid's philanthropic arm has donated $15,000 to an organization that works with universities to develop social justice projects.

The Rite Aid Foundation announced the donation of the grant to Impact Alabama, based in Birmingham, Ala., which plans to use the grant to expand FocusFirst, a vision-screening program for children in Head Start classrooms and lower-income daycares across the state. The foundation previously awarded the group $15,000 in 2010.

GREAT NECK, N.Y. — MinuteClinic, the retail healthcare division of CVS Caremark and North Shore-LIJ Health System (North Shore-LIJ), one of the nation's largest healthcare providers, have signed a clinical collaboration to enhance access to high-quality healthcare services in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island.

SOLANA BEACH, Calif. — OneHealth Solutions on Wednesday announced that Safeway has selected OneHealth to help support healthy living for its 171,000 employees. "Safeway is committed to developing programs that enable our employees to make informed and sustainable healthcare decisions," stated Kent Bradley, SVP and chief medical officer at Safeway. "We offer a number of innovative healthcare programs, and integrating a peer support program like OneHealth allows us to leverage the power of the community to support individuals on their health journey."

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid announced the two winners of the 2012 Favorite Pharmacy Team Member contest: a pharmacy technician from Ada, Ohio, and a long-time customer of the Birmingham, Mich., store. Both were selected at random from more than 13,000 entries in the annual contest honoring Rite Aid's pharmacy team members for their commitment to customer care and service.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Dollar Tree reported consolidated net sales for the fourth-quarter jumped 15.4% to $2.25 billion compared with $1.95 billion reported for the quarter ended Jan. 28, 2012. Comparable-store sales increased 2.4%, on top of a 7.3% increase for the fourth quarter 2011.

Earnings per diluted share for the fourth quarter were $1.01, an increase of 26.3% compared with the 80 cents earnings per diluted share reported for the fourth quarter 2011.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target is planning a rollout in Canada that will be bigger than any single year's worth of its store openings in the United States ever, executives of the company said Wednesday morning in a call with Wall Street analysts to discuss the mass merchandise retailer's fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 results.

LOS ANGELES — Music mogul Sean Combs and actor/producer Mark Wahlberg on Wednesday announced a joint venture with fitness and wellness water brand AQUAhydrate. Per the arrangement, Combs and Wahlberg will oversee business strategy along with CEO John Cochran, former president of Fiji Water.  

Together they will help drive the AQUAhydrate brand and be instrumental in helping secure retail partnerships for the water brand, such as their recently signed deals with Safeway, Kroger and GNC.