Distribution

Fourth quarter sales at CVS Health surged 11% to $41.1 billion, enabling the operator of nearly 10,000 stores to surpass a significant annual sales milestone.

The company opened 53 new retail stores and acquired 1,672 pharmacies from Target to end the year with 9,655 retail stores, including pharmacies in Target stores, and annual sales of $153.3 billion, an increase of 10%.

PetSmart has become the first pet retailer to ink a deal with the founder of one of the newest and most exciting innovations for dogs: meal replacement bars.

The specialty pet store announced it will carry TurboPUP portable meal bars for dogs in more than 900 PetSmart stores across the U.S. and Canada this year. Last week the founder of TurboPUP bars appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank with the news of her exclusive, national retail deal with the retailer. 

Sports Authority is taking steps towards filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to Bloomberg.

The retailer has a debt payment due in 10 days and in talk with its lenders about a reorganization plan under which it would close as many as 200 of its more than 450 stores, the report said.
 
Sports Authority reportedly skipped a $20 million in interest payment in January on a $343 million loan. It has 10 days to make the payment.

The nation’s two leading mattress specialty firms are one.

On Friday, Mattress Firm completed its $780 million acquisition of rival Sleepy’s. The combined company will have annual sales of over $3.6 billion through approximately 3,500 retail locations in 48 states.

Party City Holdco Inc. is looking to broaden its e-commerce reach.

The 900-store, vertical operator of the Party City and Halloween City party goods chains is launching a new e-commerce partnership with Staples Inc. Products manufactured and sourced by Party City will be merchandised and sold on Staples.com.

It makes no sense for Amazon.com to open the type of physical bookstores it helped obliterate, not when the online giant already has the physical infrastructure in place to support a large scale rollout of another type of store in one of retail’s hottest sectors.

It makes no sense for Amazon.com to open the type of physical bookstores it helped obliterate, not when the online giant already has the physical infrastructure in place to support a large scale rollout of another type of store in one of retail’s hottest sectors.

Publix and AmerisourceBergen on Thursday announced a long-term agreement encompassing the distribution of branded, generic and over-the-counter health and pharmaceutical products. The agreement also enables Publix’s network of more than 980 pharmacy locations across the southeast to expand patient access to specialty medications.

Same-store sales at Costco were mostly flat in January across the globe, mirroring reports from other retailers reporting soft sales.