Deerfield-based pharmacy giant Walgreen Co. said last month’s sales were up nearly 8 percent, boosted by its acquisition of the large Duane Reade pharmacy chain in New York.
Walgreen on Thursday reported February sales were up 7.8 percent to $5.73 billion compared to $5.32 billion in the same month of 2010. The Duane Reade stores, bought in April of 2010, “contributed 2.7 percentage points to the total sales increase for the month,” the company said.
“Total front-end sales increased 10.6 percent in February, including 4.5 percentage points from Duane Reade stores,” Walgreens said in its monthly sales announcement. “Comparable store front-end sales increased 3.8 percent. Customer traffic in comparable stores increased 1.6 percent, while basket size increased 2.2 percent.”
The company’s sales didn’t get much of a boost from its larger pharmacy business. Walgreens said prescriptions filled at comparable stores were up 4 percent in February but were “negatively impacted” because the company was giving fewer flu shots.
Prescriptions filled at comparable stores increased 4.3 percent in February. “The company estimates that February prescriptions filled were negatively impacted 0.5 to 1 percentage point due to many pharmacy patients filling their prescriptions in late January in advance of the severe winter storm that impacted the Midwest in early February,” the company said.
bjapsen@tribune.com
