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DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens in March expanded Joseph Magnacca’s role. As president of daily living products and solutions, Magnacca — the former Shoppers Drug Mart vet who as chief merchant of Duane Reade proved instrumental in the reinvention of the New York drug store chain — will oversee Walgreens’ marketing and merchandising operations, led by chief marketing officer Kim Feil and chief merchandising officer Bryan Pugh, but will report directly to president and CEO Greg Wasson.

BOSTON — Boston Medical Center announced that it has received a $50,000 grant for the Autism Clinic from CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, the private foundation created by CVS Caremark.

BMC is one of 72 organizations selected from a pool of 660 applicants to receive an individual or multiyear grant for 2010. The grant will allow the Autism Clinic to develop a written behavioral curriculum for hands-on training for parents with low income and/or limited-English proficiency.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart Stores said it will open a new office in Atlanta, positioning the retailer to more effectively manage nearly 1,600 stores in 20 Eastern U.S. states and focus on opportunities to grow its business in such states as New York.

The new Eastern business unit will be run by Rosalind Brewer, president of Walmart East and EVP Walmart U.S.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — In celebration of Earth Day this weekend, Walgreens will turn off select interior lights and lighted exterior signage at 1,415 stores across the country for one hour on Saturday.

In New York, the Walgreens billboard in Times Square also will go dark, the drug store chain said.

DEERFIELD, Ill., and BELLEVUE, Wash. — Shortly after posting record second-quarter sales on Tuesday, Walgreens announced that it would "accelerate its online strategy" by acquiring e-retailer Drugstore.com for about $429 million, subject to customary conditions.

NEW YORK — Duane Reade, which is owned by Walgreens, has extended its contract with DeVito/Verdi, the New York ad agency that assisted with its marketing metamorphosis.

"The street-smart ad campaign created by DeVito/Verdi certainly helped transform the Duane Reade brand," stated Paul Tiberio, SVP merchandising and marketing for Duane Reade. "We're looking forward to having the agency continue to give voice to this iconoclastic brand."

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer is continuing its pantry donation program by kicking off a springtime campaign.

The Midwest retailer is once again teaming up with its customers and team members in implementing its Simply Give program to help restock the shelves of nearly 200 local food pantries in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.

This marks Meijer's eighth Simply Give effort, which began on March 20 and will continue through May 14.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — The Walmart Foundation has donated $5 million to the Meals On Wheels Association of America to help fight senior hunger in communities across the nation.

Through the grant, MOWAA will boost the efforts of senior nutrition programs, organizations that provide critical services to more than 6 million seniors in the United States currently facing the threat of hunger.