Top Retailers

LA JOLLA, Calif. — Natural food company Bear Naked is giving consumers a boost with a new breakfast cereal.

Bear Naked Nut Cluster Crunch is a blend of hearty flakes and energy-dense, crunchy clusters made with toasted nuts, whole-grain oats and puffed wheat. The company said that the cereal, which is available in honey almond and maple nut varieties, was designed to give busy, active people the natural energy they need to make the most of their morning.

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — Walmart Canada has agreed to assume leasehold interests from Target Canada in up to 39 sites that currently are operated by Zellers.

Specific locations will be identified later this fall. Terms of this transaction were not disclosed.

The sites are among up to 220 possible sites whose leasehold interests Target is acquiring as part of a real-estate transaction announced in January. In May, Target selected its initial group of 105 sites, the vast majority of which will become Target stores.

BOSTON — More and more success at retail is contingent upon delivering what the consumer wants, when she wants it, where she wants it and at the price she wants it.

According to a panel of consumer manufacturers and retail executives from Navarro Discount Pharmacies and Rite Aid, she wants fresh, health and wellness all neatly packaged with a value-priced bow. And she wants it in the drug channel.

CINCINNATI — Kroger CEO David Dillon said the company will continue to focus on customer loyalty, after reporting last week that it saw identical-store sales increase for 30 consecutive quarters.

During its shareholders meeting on Thursday, Dillon said the company will build its future growth around its Customer 1st strategy, which emphasizes "[our] people, products, prices and the shopping experience."

VERNON HILLS, Ill. — George Riedl has been named president of Advanced Marketing & Sales, AMS announced Thursday.

Riedl, a 27-year Walgreens veteran, will be actively involved in all areas of the company and will have all sales and marketing departments reporting to him, according to a statement released by AMS.

At Walgreens, Riedl served as the drug store chain's EVP marketing and merchandising from 2003 until late 2008 before being shifted to SVP pharmacy innovation in March 2009. Riedl retired from Walgreens at the end of that year.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Sales may have been flat overall, but a closer look revealed there was a lot to be positive about in Rite Aid’s fiscal first quarter 2012 earnings, as the company managed significant expense improvement and stronger same-store sales growth. Bottom line: Rite Aid narrowed its losses considerably, and that ain’t all expense control.

NANTUCKET, Mass. — Walgreens CFO Wade Miquelon said that the chain's decision to break its ties with pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts was the best decision, according to a Reuters report.

Caling it a "principled stand," Miquelon, who spoke at the Jefferies 2011 Global Consumer Conference in Nantucket, Mass., on Thursday, said that "under any scenario of what Express Scripts is proposing ... it's much better for us to go it alone," Reuters reported.

WASHINGTON — Walmart announced that it has launched a $25 million giving campaign aimed at filling the gaps created when schools close for the summer through its charitable arm, the Walmart Foundation.

Funding to more than 350 local nonprofit organizations will help expand nutrition, learning and employment services for elementary, middle and high school students throughout the 2011 summer months, the company reported.

Walmart said it would address the achievement gap between higher- and lower-income youth by focusing on three key areas: