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Wal-Mart slashes prices on 24 items
Bruised by aggressive promotional pricing by competitors over the Thanksgiving weekend, Wal-Mart last Thursday announced a counterattack. The world's largest retailer said a nationwide newspaper and radio advertising blitz beginning today will trumpet price cuts of up to a third on 24 popular items — including portable DVD players, fleece clothing, Leap Pad reading toys, Elmo toys and a jar opener by Black & Decker...
USA Today

Target sticks to its decision to bar Salvation Army kettles
In the holiday jostle, Salvation Army's red kettles have taken a spill. Target's decision this year to bar Salvation Army fundraisers from its 1,313 stores in 47 states ends a longstanding relationship with the Christian charity and removes the second-largest source of kettle funds: $8.9 million last year. The decision also reveals a split among major retailers over how to respond to growing demands by charities for access to the prime real estate outside their doors...
USA Today

Additional News:

• Longs Drug November same-store sales fall Forbes
• Giant Eagle to convert five Shell stations to GetGos Progressive Grocer
• Foodland gets offer for Australian unit International Herald Tribune
• Safeway tobacco suit settled Progressive Grocer

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Two new 'targeted' leukemia drugs show promise
Two experimental drugs could offer hope to leukemia patients who no longer benefit from Gleevec, the groundbreaking cancer pill, research presented Sunday at the meeting of the American Society of Hematology shows. Gleevec, approved in 2001 to treat chronic myeloid leukemia, is one of the first of a new class of "targeted" therapies that attack cancerous tumors but not the surrounding tissue. After three years of treatment, however, 15% to 20% of patients stop responding to Gleevec, says Charles Sawyers, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the University of California-Los Angeles...
USA Today

Pfizer arthritis pill gets heart warning
The new prescribing information for Pfizer's arthritis drug Bextra contains a warning to avoid prescribing the drug in patients undergoing open-heart surgery. As previously reported, the Bextra label also includes a "black box" warning--the most serious kind--for a dangerous skin condition called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. But the cardiovascular warning may be as big a problem, even though it is featured less prominently than the skin reaction...
Forbes

Additional News:

• Dad cites boy's antidepressants in deaths Newsday
• Experimental diet drug has staying power WebMD
• AMA delegates debate handling of drug imports Houston Chronicle
• Teva announces promotions and additions to its management team PharmaLive

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Nutrient and health claims help sell foods
Americans are becoming healthier shoppers, according to a report published last week by the Food Marketing Institute. The study titled "Shopping for Health 2004," and produced by the FMI and Prevention Magazine, says that Americans are increasingly focusing on their diets to achieve good health. Moreover, many shoppers said that they buy certain products because they claim to be high in nutrients, in particular calcium, vitamin C, or to be vitamin-rich or vitamin-fortified...
NutraIngredients

The Dairy Council: milk and ovarian cancer
The recent observational research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "Milk and lactose intakes and ovarian cancer risk in the Swedish Mammography Cohort" is one of several epidemiological studies investigating the possible causes of ovarian cancer. Alternatively, of seven other peer-reviewed studies, four have shown that consuming low-fat milk and dairy products could have a protective effect against ovarian cancer and three have shown no association between consumption of dairy foods and risk of ovarian cancer...
just-food

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Consumer goods companies set to reassure
Three U.S. consumer products makers will give a peek into their strategies this week and while the sector has been plagued by rising costs and stiff competition, analysts are optimistic about their prospects. Rising raw material, gas, oil and packaging costs have placed an enormous amount of pressure on the sector, which have forced consumers to search for more bargains in the past few months. The meetings come months after profit warnings from the likes of Colgate-Palmolive Co., Unilever NV, and Coca-Cola Co. rocked the market...
Reuters

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Coors' CMO departure not a total surprise
Coors' wholesalers were ready to kiss Ron Askew's shoes during the 2002 annual distributor's meeting in Las Vegas. The company's CMO had shown them Coors Light "Rock On" TV spots featuring raucous party scenes, the music of Fat Boy Slim and Barenaked Ladies, and the early work for Coors Original's Guys Night Out ads. Askew's tenure also brought "Wingman" and the Coors Twins. Askew did reinvigorate the brewer's advertising and helped Coors Light capture the attention of 21-27-year olds, but the ads didn't sell beer and shipments declined during his tenure which left many not all that surprised when he announced his resignation last week...
BrandWeek

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Toys "R" Us attracting bidders
As many as three groups have lined up to bid for Toys "R" Us, the struggling Wayne, NJ-based retailer, according to a report on TheDeal.com. The Web site reports that sources say Boston buyout firm Bain Capital LLC is partnering with Vornado Realty Trust, while New York private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management is teaming with Kimco Realty Corp. A third group, including New York private equity firm Apollo Management LP, Toys "R" Us chairman Michael Goldstein and New York merchant bank Tri-Artisan Partners LLC, are also reportedly interested...
Retail Merchandiser

American Greetings to cut 300 jobs
American Greetings Corp. announced it has cut approximately 300 jobs as part of an ongoing effort to reduce costs, with more than half of the positions eliminated occurring at the company’s headquarters. The greeting card maker employs approximately 20,000 associates on a full-time equivalent basis, with 2,000 employees located at its Cleveland, Ohio, headquarters. Zev Weiss, American Greetings chief executive officer, said the actions represent a continuation of the company’s strategy to “improve efficiencies throughout the organization.”
Drug Store News (Sub Req'd) | Forbes

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Tommy Thompson to resign
Tommy Thompson, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced last Friday that he will be resigning from the post on February 4, or when a successor is confirmed. “[I]t's time for me and my family to move on to the next chapter in our life,” he said. Responding to questions at a news conference, Thompson said he is proud of reworking Medicare, making Americans more aware of their public health conditions and the need for lifestyle changes, rebuilding the public health infrastructure and becoming more involved in the global fight against HIV/AIDS...
PharmExec

Low-glycemic dieters have higher metabolisms, feel fuller
One of the pitfalls of dieting is that it decreases your metabolism, making it harder to burn calories. But focusing on foods that minimally affect blood sugar may be key to keeping your metabolism revved up. A new study shows that dieters who decreased calories while concentrating on healthy fats and carbohydrates had higher metabolisms after 10 weeks of dieting. They also reported less hunger than dieters taking in the same number of calories who ate only low-fat foods...
WebMD

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