Kmart, Health Resource in Rx Newsletter Pact
t month that it planned to roll out a personalized, prescription-drug newsletter program from Health Resource, St. Louis, to all 1,580 Kmart pharmacies. Health Resource, a division of Catalina Marketing, based in St. Petersburg, Fla., provides educational newsletters customized for individual pharmacy patients based on the type of drugs they are taking and other criteria. Pharmacists distribute the newsletters, which also contain targeted ads, to patients with their prescriptions. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. A spokeswoman for Kmart told SN that the chain would begin implementing the program in March or April.
Rite Aid, CVS Pull Out of Markets in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Rite Aid, Camp Hill, Pa., last month said it would close its 20 stores here, including nine that will be sold to rival CVS, Woonsocket, R.I., because it has been unable to grow its market share, according to reports. Kroger is the leading prescription-drug provider in the market, with a 28% share. CVS is No. 2 with a 23% share. Meanwhile CVS said it would shutter 16 stores in the Toledo, Ohio, market, where it faced heavy competition from market leader Rite Aid, along with Walgreen Co., Deerfield, Ill., and Spartan Stores' Pharm Deep Discount chain. CVS also said it would pull out of the Canton, Ohio, market and close several other stores in various Ohio and Michigan markets. The company in October said it would close 200 stores in a cost-cutting effort.
