WALGREENS

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.

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 has announced that it is offering free blood pressure testing through Jan. 16 at all Walgreens pharmacies and Take Care Clinics nationwide, as announced Thursday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

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.

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.

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.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark's retail-based clinic operator, MinuteClinic, is experiencing exponential gains in utilization and posted a 22% increase in acute visits during the past year, Larry Merlo, CVS Caremark president and COO, told investors Wednesday during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — It seems that many mail-order pharmacy patients are unaware that they can receive their 90-day supply of prescription medications at community pharmacies.