Consumer Affairs & Relations

Ulta Beauty is not only “Ultra-beautiful,”  according to television personality Ellen DeGeneres, it’s also “Ultra-generous.”

Capping off a partnership during the month of October with DeGeneres to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research, Ulta CEO Mary Dillon appeared on the popular talk show and presented the host with a $2 million check made out to the Breast Cancer Reseach Foundation.

For the second time in less than a month, Costco has elected a veteran of the telecommunications industry to serve on the retailer's board of directors.

Costco announced that John W. Stanton, chairman of Trilogy International Partners, Inc., and Trilogy Equity Partners, has been elected to Costco's board. Stanton founded and served as chairman and CEO of Western Wireless Corporation, a wireless telecommunications company, from 1992 until shortly after its acquisition by ALLTEL Corporation in 2005.

Big screen actors and television personalities made smoking cool for generations of Americans. Now produce marketers and retailers hope a new deal with Hollywood can have the same effect on fruits and vegetables.

For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, CVS Health reported $38.6 billion in net revenues, representing an increase of 10.3%. Revenues across the Pharmacy Services Segment increased 13.3% to $25.5 billion, primarily driven by growth in specialty pharmacy and pharmacy network claims.

“We delivered solid revenue and operating profit growth across our businesses, and we continue to expect significant growth in the fourth quarter, rounding out another terrific year for our company,” Larry Merlo, CVS Health president and CEO, said.

The merger agreement between Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid must be consummated by Oct. 27, 2016, or the deal is off, according to documents filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. That deadline could be extended to Jan. 27, 2017 under some circumstances, according to the document.

The pharmacy services segment helped CVS Health post a $10.3% increase in net revenue in the third quarter.

Despite concern from smaller pharmacies, Walgreens’ plan to acquire Rite Aid is likely to be approved by the FTC, according to a report by International Business Times. “The location strategies of these two companies have been historically quite different,” said Howard Davidowitz, a New York-based retail consultant.

Mobile payment keeps getting more popular, at least on the provider side.

According to Re/Code, Amazon.com is launching a mobile “Pay with Amazon” button that will let consumers automatically use their Amazon payment information to make purchases on other retailer’s e-commerce apps. While not exactly a mobile wallet app, the Pay With Amazon button is definitely an attempt to obtain a piece of the mobile payment market which Apple, Samsung, Google, and several other entities are trying to take an early lead in.