WALMART

PITTSBURGH and BENTONVILLE, Ark. — After providing its products to Rite Aid customers through a co-branded store format for more than a decade, GNC is making its foray into the warehouse club for the first time by offering select private-label products at Sam's Club locations.

GNC's products will boost Sam's Club's current health-and-wellness offerings by extending GNC's specialty retailing brand to mass-market customers.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart said it will present more than $1.5 million to nonprofits in six U.S. communities, thanks to Facebook users' help with the retailer's commitment to fight hunger through 2015.

CLEVELAND — A distributor of over-the-counter probiotic products has developed and launched a new yogurt line exclusively at Walmart stores.

Ganeden's enLiven yogurt is available in four flavors, including vanilla, blueberry, strawberry and peach, and features GanedenBC30 probiotics, the company said.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Despite gains in its international sector, Walmart experienced its seventh straight quarterly sales decline in its U.S. stores division for the period ended Jan. 31.

Walmart said although sales at its international stores rose 27%, its U.S. store sales fell short of its own projections for the holiday period. Sales at U.S. Walmart stores fell 0.5% to $71.1 billion, and were down 1.8% on a comparable-store basis, the company said.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens this month rounded out the pharmacy purchasing team led by Jeff Berkowitz, who joined the company in the fall as SVP pharmaceutical development and market access.


ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Customer satisfaction as measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index has not improved since the middle of 2009, and on Tuesday it registered its biggest drop in two years; for fourth quarter 2010, the index fell 0.5% to 75.3.

RENO, Nevada — St. Mary's Medical Group once again is teaming up with Walmart to open up a second retail-based health clinic in Nevada, according to local news reports.

According to reports, the second location is opening on Tuesday at the Walmart store on Kietzke Lane.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart has named Cindy Davis EVP of its global consumer insights business unit created two weeks ago as part of a larger corporate restructuring.

Davis, who joined Walmart in 2007 and previously served as EVP membership and marketing for Sam’s Club, will continue to report to Sam’s Club president and CEO Brian Cornell, although she will be responsible for understanding broad consumer trends worldwide and for creating advanced analytical tools to support the business.