BREAKING NEWS: Rite Aid Acquires Candy Maker, Launches New Rewards Program

Wow, the hits keep coming. This morning, Rite Aid announced its acquisition of Just Born, the privately-held Bethlehem, PA, company best known for making delicious Marshmallow Peeps. Read the press release.

To coincide with the deal, Rite Aid also announced a new Peepness+ rewards program. This program unites the drugstore’s front-end and pharmacy sales by allowing consumers to earn Peepness+ "mallow points." The points never expire, so customers can use accrued benefits throughout their lifetime.

The program arrives just in time for the spring candy harvest. Here’s what Troy McClure, Rite Aid's VP of Tobacco, Candy, and Snack Chips (TCSC)  told me: “We want to build a lifetime relationship with our customers. For instance, you’ll earn points whenever you spend more than $9.75 on any avian or leporid Peeps marshmallows. Later, when you become an insulin-dependent diabetic, you can redeem your mallow points at our pharmacy.”

Added McClure: “At Rite Aid, we have long viewed candy products, and really the whole TCSC category, as essential to establishing our drugstores as true healthcare destinations.”

Folks, here’s another powerful example of fauxversification. Read on for my competitive analysis of the drugstore industry’s latest innovation.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Ooops. I forgot to mention that it’s April Fools' Day again!

For previous foolishness:

• Walgreens to Start Selling Marijuana in Retail Drugstores (2014) 

• Walmart Adds Low-Cost Surgical Procedures (2013) 

CVS Health: you are officially on notice for 2016.