Content about Rhode Island

Cranston, R.I. -- Boston-based The Wilder Cos. said Thursday that the second phase of the multi-phased strategy to expand, reconfigure and redevelop Garden City Center, in Cranston, R.I., is officially underway.

The project involves turning vacant former large-format retail spaces into a mix of mid-sized and smaller specialty retailers, including the state’s first Corner Bakery Café which signed a multi-year lease.

Dallas -- Corner Bakery Café said Wednesday it plans to open 18 restaurants in the Boston area, joining under-development markets in neighboring Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The bakery-café concept is targeting its growth through franchising deals with restaurant pros capable of opening multiple units. Corner Bakery has set a goal of doubling its current U.S. footprint of 147 locations by the end of 2015.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Caremark said Monday it has named Brian Tilzer as SVP, chief digital officer for the drugstore chain.

Tilzer, previously SVP global e-commerce for Staples, is charged with developing and leading CVS digital innovation efforts and connecting current and future digital initiatives.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS/pharmacy and Medicine Chest Pharmacy announced Friday that CVS will acquire 19 Medicine Chest drug stores in Texas during the last weekend of December.

CVS/pharmacy will operate nine of the acquired locations and relocate 10 other Medicine Chest pharmacies into nearby existing CVS/pharmacy locations. Medicine Chest will continue to operate its remaining 10 locations.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Caremark Corp. reported Tuesday that net income for the quarter ended Sept. 30 jumped 16% to $1.01 billion, compared with $868 million in the year-ago period. Results were boosted by a 13.3% increase in revenue to $30.2 billion, which edged Wall Street’s forecast of $30.09 billion in revenue.

Drugstore revenue rose 5.5% to $15.5 billion, and same-store sales climbed 4.3%, helped by the influx of Walgreens customer who switched to CVS during the split between Walgreen Co and Express Scripts Holding Co.

Cranston, R.I. -- Boston-based The Wilder Cos. said that LA Fitness will make its Rhode Island state debut at Garden City Center, located in Cranston.

The 38,000-sq.-ft., two-level facility will be located next to Office Max; a former Borders will be demolished to make way for LA Fitness.

Construction will begin in January 2013 with a late December 2013 or early 2014 opening set.

Teen apparel retailer dELiA*s has debuted a new prototype at Providence Place Mall, in Providence, R.I. The store has a stylish, youthful vibe that reflects its core customer. The design met objectives to increase floor and wall fixture capacity and reduce overall store size while maintaining brand identification.
 
Design was by Shremshock Architects & Engineers, Westerville, Ohio, in collaboration with Asset Strategies Group, also of Westerville, Ohio, which provided overall construction and project management services.  

West Bridgewater, Mass. -- Supervalu banner Shaw's announced that two of its Rhode Island locations diverted more than 90% of store waste from local landfills as part of the company's zero-waste program.

Shaw's said its Barrington and Cranston stores achieved total waste diversion of 90.76% and 90.81%, respectively. In addition to the two new zero-waste stores in Rhode Island, the Shaw's Lancaster, N.H., store also is one of the newest to join the zero-waste program, bringing the company total to eight.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS/pharmacy is shuttering all of its Beauty 360 locations and ceasing operation of the Beauty 360 e-commerce business to focus on the growth of its core CVS/pharmacy beauty business, the retailer confirmed on Wednesday.

As of May 19, all 25 of the Beauty 360 locations will close and the e-commerce business will cease operation.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS Caremark on Tuesday released an economic impact study of its contribution to the economy of its headquarters state of Rhode Island.

The Pricewaterhouse Coopers-conducted study showed that the company's Rhode Island operations contributed more than $1.2 billion to Rhode Island's GDP in 2010, approximately 12,000 jobs, $831 million in labor income, and $116 million in state and local taxes.

Woonsocket, R.I. -- CVS/pharmacy has introduced a program that allows pharmacy patients to receive immediate notification via text message when their prescription is ready to be picked up, the drugstore chain said.

Order Ready Text Messaging, which is available on nearly all mobile carriers, offers text alerts in English and Spanish. Customers interested in enrolling into Order Ready Text Messaging can do so by speaking to a pharmacy staff member or visiting CVS.com/text. Standard message rates apply.

Woonsocket, R.I. — Looking to stay on the cutting edge of mobile commerce, CVS/pharmacy has made the entire CVS.com catalog available to shoppers through its mobile site (m.cvs.com), so CVS/pharmacy customers easily can browse, order and buy products anywhere, anytime from their smartphones.

In addition, the CVS Photo mobile site features fully-optimized print ordering and purchasing with easy checkout.