Steve Jobs' recovery from a nutritional problem related to a hormone imbalance "is coming along," and he is on schedule to return to work later this month, according to a source who has seen the Apple CEO in recent weeks. "He was one real sick guy,'' this person tells Yukari Iwatani Kane and Joann S. Lublin. "Fundamentally, he was starving to death over a nine-month period. He couldn't digest protein. [But] he took corrective action.'' The big question among Apple watchers is whether Jobs will reappear at Apple's annual software developers' conference next week in San Francisco. Apple …

Max Factor is the leading cosmetics brand in more than 20 countries and the No. 2 cosmetics brand in key markets like the U.K. and Russia, and that is where it will spend its future days, Antoinette Alexander reports. Procter & Gamble will stop selling the brand in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2010. "This is the right decision to further strengthen our cosmetics business because it allows us to focus our U.S. resources on continuing to growth [sic] the No. 1 brand in the region, CoverGirl," says Virginia Drosos, president of Global Female Beauty …

Walgreen and CVS Caremark are going beyond treatment of routine maladies at their in-store clinics and are now training nurses to do specialized injections for such chronic conditions as osteoporosis and are offering treatments for advanced skin conditions such as wart removal, Bruce Japsen reports. "We want to create a health corner -- a real center that looks like you are walking into the doctor's office," Walgreen CEO Greg Wasson says of the retailer's Take Care brand clinics. Retail clinics not only market themselves as a convenience, they also can be less expensive, providing a competitive threat to …

Vita Coco. The New York company is the largest maker of a drink that is all the rage in the beverage industry: coconut water. Indeed, until recently, the main players have grown by marketing to distinct consumer niches, Laurie Burkitt reports. "Marketing is what's selling these drinks, since the taste isn't something that will appeal to everyone," she writes. Market leader Vita Coco, which sells for up to $2 and raked in $20 million from sales in 8,000 stores last year, targets young hipsters who might use the beverage in a cocktail, for example. The company has vans that …

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says his company tried and rejected the motion-sensing technology that Sony and Microsoft are counting on to catch up in the video game wars.

Looking to expand its direct contact with customers, Procter & Gamble is buying the Art of Shaving 36-store retail chain, which purveys pricey shaving products at upscale malls, Jack Neff reports. It has sold high-end Gillette-branded products there since 2007; all of Art of Shaving's razor products fit only P&G's brand. Art of Shaving also distributes products through about 700 Sephora stores, and is strong on the Internet and in building one-to-one relationships with men. "We certainly are stepping up our online presence in e-commerce," says P&G spokeswoman Kelly Vanasse. "Art of Shaving brings with them a large …

Kellogg will announce today that four out of five of its cereals will have at least three grams of fiber per serving by the end of 2010, beginning with two kids brands infamous among nutritionists: Fruit Loops and Apple Jacks. The move is expected to rock the packaged foods industry, writes Bruce Horovitz. But adding fiber won't necessarily make a product better, says Michael Jacobson, director Center for Science in the Public Interest. "You can gussie up any product by adding fiber and vitamins," he says, adding that consumers need to check labels for sugars, sodium and dyes. …

Hard hit by consumers unwilling to splurge on home furnishings, Williams-Sonoma is going to start pushing lower-priced goods in its direct-to-consumers and retail outlets such as its namesake unit, Pottery Barn, and West Elm. Sales were off 22% in the first quarter as shoppers gravitated to inexpensive products such as pillows, Elizabeth Holmes reports. The retailer has been introducing lower prices across its store brands, both at retail and in the catalog and Internet channels, where it does 40% of its business. The starting price of a Pottery Barn sofa, for example, has dropped from $1,299 to $999. It …

Coca-Cola and Italian coffee maker Illycaffe are taking a slow and deliberate approach in their launch of a line of coffee drinks called Illy Issimo, Joy Guy Collier reports. But there's nothing half-hearted about their goal, which is to turn Illy Issimo into the global leader for premium ready-to-drink coffees, according to Vinay Kapoor, CEO of Ilko Coffee International, the joint venture based in Milan, Italy. Coke and Illy want to build the brand primarily through trial and word-of-mouth, Kapoor says, and most of the marketing will focus on sampling and in-store displays. To establish a connection to Illy's …