Top Retailers

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Coming off a strong third quarter, CVS Caremark executives expressed confidence that the company’s integrated retail/pharmacy benefit manager model and the unique programs and services it is able to deliver customers and clients are “making the difference,” president and CEO Larry Merlo told analysts during a Tuesday morning earnings call.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Kmart and Sears are offering free shipping for certain online orders as the holiday shopping season approaches.

Sears Holdings, the company that operates the two chains, said customers with orders of $49 or more from Kmart.com, Sears.com and MyGofer.com can receive free shipping. The company cited a recent "Sears Online Holiday Shopping Survey" that found most online shoppers listed shipping costs as their primary frustration with buying gifts online.

TORONTO — Target is supporting up-and-coming Canadian fashion designers through a partnership with the Toronto Fashion Incubator, the company said Tuesday.

Target announced the partnership with the incubator for the annual TFI New Labels fashion-design competition, the winner of which will receive a C$25,000 cash award and will get to have his or her exclusive collection sold in Target stores across Canada in 2014.



Target and CVS are some of the first retailers to group adult multivitamins and supplements available in gummy format into one 4-ft. set. The idea is to make shopping vitamins and supplements easier. For the 12 weeks ended Sept. 9, SymphonyIRI Group tabulated $202 million in sales of multivitamins, up slightly by 0.8%, across food, drug and mass (excluding Walmart).

Walgreens is the newest to jump into the loyalty game. Still, its Balance Rewards managed to sign up 16 million members within just two weeks of its mid-September launch.

In many ways, Balance Rewards represents some of the best thinking in customer loyalty. There’s a better-health incentive linked to the Walk with Walgreens program. There are complementary health offerings tied to participation. It is mobile-enabled and ties into its multichannel strategy. Points don’t expire. And the data from the program will help inform every facet of Walgreens’ business.

Rite Aid was the first to fold in a health-driven component to its loyalty program; as participants move up the Wellness+ ladder, they earn health-related perks, like free healthcare assessments.

Wellness+ membership grew 8% to 25 million, during the company’s recently reported second quarter. Members accounted for 74% of front-end sales, compared with 69% one year ago, as well as 68% of prescription sales.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — To help victims of Hurricane Sandy, customers shopping this week at any Walgreens or Duane Reade store in the United States will have the opportunity to make donations to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund in increments of $1, $2, $5 or $10, Walgreens announced Monday. The fundraising initiative is in addition to Walgreens' announcement last week that it would make a $250,000 contribution to the same fund.

 DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Monday posted October sales of $6 billion, a drop of 2.1% as compared to October 2011. However, in only six weeks on the market, the chain's Balance Rewards loyalty program signed more than 28 million customers through Oct. 31. 

The results include the brunt of the impact from Hurricane Sandy — at the peak of the storm, approximately 750 of 1,400 stores in the impacted area were closed, Walgreens reported. Nearly all of those locations have since reopened.