Top Retailers

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — Walgreens has talked plenty about its Customer Centric Retailing initiative since the overhaul of its store merchandising and marketing strategy kicked off two years ago. But the rejuvenation of Walgreens’ sprawling, coast-to-coast store network is just the tip of the CCR iceberg, company leaders said.

(THE NEWS: CCR is just the beginning, says Walgreens CEO. For the full story, click here)

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens' board of directors declared a 27.3% of its quarterly dividend for shareholders of record Feb. 18.

The drug store chain said Thursday that its dividend now totaled 17.5 cents per share. Walgreens has paid a dividend in 313 straight quarters (78 years) and has raised its dividend for 35 consecutive years.

The dividend is payable March 12.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target announced that its chief marketing officer, Michael Francis, will serve as the executive committee sponsor of Target’s entrance into the Canadian market. In this role, Francis will oversee the extension of Target’s brand as part of the corporation’s first-ever expansion of its stores beyond the United States, the company reported.

CHICAGO — Bolstered by a strong recent uptrend in sales and earnings and by clear signs that its massive realignment is beginning to bear real fruit, Walgreens’ top executives delivered an upbeat assessment of the company’s progress and its potential as a multichannel retail and healthcare powerhouse at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting Wednesday.

NEW YORK — Start spreading the news: Walmart wants to be a part of it — New York, N.Y. Though the retailer's desire to enter the city is nothing new, its latest push shows that attitudes toward the retailer opening stores in New York City are changing — in Walmart's favor.

CHICAGO — With the explosion in such mobile devices as smart phones, Walgreens is expanding its access across an ever-wider array of options for health consumers, president and CEO Greg Wasson told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting Wednesday.

MINNEAPOLIS — Just days after announcing 2011 U.S. expansion plans, Target announced an acquisition in Canada that will enable it to open between 100 and 150 stores during the next four years.

The company announced that it has agreed to pay C$1.83 billion to purchase from Zellers, a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Co., the leasehold interests in up to 220 sites currently operated by Zellers. This transaction will allow Target to open its first Target stores in Canada beginning in 2013.

CHICAGO — Walgreens’ massive Customer Centric Retailing initiative is transforming the way the company’s stores are merchandised and designed as it rolls into an ever-larger proportion of its more than 7,600 stores across the United States. But it’s only the opening drive in a campaign to “reinvent the customer experience in our stores,” president and CEO Greg Wasson told shareholders Wednesday.