Top Retailers

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway and its charitable arm have launched their annual prostate cancer awareness campaign this month.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid has appointed president and CEO John Standley as chairman, the retail pharmacy chain said Friday.

Rite Aid announced that its board of directors had elected Standley to replace current chairman Mary Sammons, effective June 21. Sammons has served as chairman since June 2007 and plans to step down at the company's annual stockholder meeting.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy has announced the launch of a new in-store fundraising campaign, named Advancing Medical Research, to support medical research and help improve the quality of life for those living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and cystic fibrosis.
 
Funds raised through the campaign will benefit the ALS Therapy Alliance, an organization dedicated to advancing ALS research, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Supporters for the 2012 campaign can donate $1 or $3 at the register in CVS/pharmacy locations and online through June 30.

CINCINNATI — Kroger has launched its annual hunger awareness campaign, which is expected to generate $4 million in cash and food donations this year.

The Bringing Hope to the Table campaign, which kicked off Sunday and will run for two weeks, is designed to assist 80 local food banks — which are members of Feeding America — in communities where Kroger's customers and associates live and work. Since 2006, Kroger has contributed $30 million in food and funds to local food banks through the annual campaign.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The Retail Employees with Disabilities Initiative certainly is a noble cause, but more than that, this is a prime example of Walgreens' active pursuit of an experience with its audience through the mediums that that audience chooses — in this case, Twitter. It represents a new paradigm in marketing as drug retailers and others swap a consumer reach and brand identity proposition for one of engagement and presence.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark released on Thursday a report showing that the company's Michigan operations directly and indirectly contributed more than $520 million to the state's gross domestic product in 2011 and, over the next 10 years, is projected to grow into the billions.

WOONSOCKET, R.I., and MORRISTOWN, N.J. — CVS Caremark’s MinuteClinic has formed a clinical affiliation with Atlantic Health System, one of the largest nonprofit healthcare systems in New Jersey — comprised of Morristown Medical Center, Goryeb Children's Hospital, Overlook Medical Center in Summit, N.J., and Newton Medical Center — to enhance access to healthcare services in northern and central New Jersey.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The $317 billion problem of medication nonadherence has many sources that often combine and overlap in complex ways. But fears of whether a drug is safe and will work are among of the most frequently cited reasons why patients don't take their drugs as prescribed, or don't take them at all.