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BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart announced that through its charitable arm, the Walmart Foundation, it is committing $1 million in cash and in-kind donations to support emergency relief efforts following the recent Southern storms, Midwest floods and Texas wildfires.

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Drugstore.com on Thursday posted a net sales increase of 16% to $128.4 million for its first quarter ended April 3.

"In the first quarter, we delivered strong over-the-counter and vision [categories] growth of 16% and 17%, respectively," stated Dawn Lepore, Drugstore.com CEO and chairman. "With our continued investment in our marketing initiatives, we acquired approximately 540,000 new customers this quarter, up 13% over the first quarter of 2010.”

WALTHAM, Mass. — Kroger now is offering its shoppers the ability to redeem SavingStar e-coupons when they use their Kroger Plus Card at checkout.

According to a press release from SavingStar, it is the only national paperless grocery coupon service, and the addition of Kroger to the SavingStar network of retailers increases the number of grocery and drug stores offering their customers digital coupons through SavingStar to more than 24,000 stores nationwide.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — With more than two-thirds of Americans either overweight or obese, weight management undoubtedly is a critical health issue facing the nation. And the news that RediClinic now is offering a weight-management program speaks to a larger trend with the convenient care industry: expanding service offerings beyond acute care, which includes, for some operators, tools to tackle obesity.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens has inked a deal to acquire 10 Carle RxExpress pharmacies from The Carle Foundation, an integrated network of healthcare services based in East Central Illinois.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark is expected to complete its acquisition of the Medicare Part D business of Universal American on April 29, the company has announced.

As previously reported, CVS Caremark will pay Universal American shareholders cash consideration of $1.25 billion plus the excess capital in the entities that operate Universal American's Medicare Part D business, less Universal American's outstanding trust preferred securities, which are being assumed by CVS Caremark.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Wholesaler Costco on Tuesday said its board of directors has approved a $4 billion share buyback program. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 17% to 24 cents, up from 20.5 cents.

The share buyback program expires in April 2015 and replaces a previous plan set to expire in July, which had $800 million remaining, the company said.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Net income for Safeway dropped due to a tax charge and the retailer's decision to repatriate $1.1 billion from its wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, although the company noted revenue rose nearly 5%.

Net income for the first quarter ended March 26 dropped to $25.1 million, or 7 cents per diluted share, compared with $96 million, or 25 cents per diluted share, in first quarter 2010. Excluding the tax charge, Safeway said first-quarter net income was $105.3 million, or 29 cents per diluted share.