Check out Walgreen’s sales growth.

Walgreen Co, the largest U.S. drugstore chain, said on Friday that September sales at its stores open at least one year rose 5.3 percent, thanks to in-store flu vaccinations and people filling more 90-day prescriptions.

Sales of general merchandise, which consumers have been shying away from in past months, also rose for the first time since May for Walgreen.

Retailers began their seasonal flu vaccinations earlier than usual this year, amid raised awareness of the flu with the H1N1 pandemic. Pharmacy same-store sales rose 7 percent for Walgreen, with the number of prescriptions filled at existing stores jumping 12 percent, including 5.2 percentage points from pharmacists administering seasonal flu shots.

Walgreen, which administered 1.2 million seasonal flu vaccines in last year’s flu season, has already given more than 2.4 million this season and aims to administer 5 million.

But not all drugstores have reported such growth.

Rite Aid said on Thursday that its same-store sales fell 0.3 percent in the four weeks ended Sept. 26. Its pharmacy same-store sales rose 0.7 percent, while general merchandise same-store sales fell 2.3 percent.

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Check out the better-than-expected profit at Walgreen.

The largest U.S. drugstore chain saw shares rise 10 percent as its fourth-quarter profit benefited from a make-over that includes sprucing up stores and cutting jobs.

Walgreen also announced a new plan to promote 90-day prescriptions available at its stores as an alternative to the mail-order programs favored by many insurance programs.

While sales rose 7.6 percent to $15.7 billion, the company, with 7,042 U.S. stores, has continued to see weak demand for general merchandise.

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(Reuters photo)

Statisticians in the drugstore industry (if they are out there), must be scratching their heads.

CVS opened its 7,000th store on Sunday.  It was a pretty big deal, with the drugstore company’s president, Larry Merlo, even heading to Little Canada, Minnesota, for Thursday’s grand opening celebration.

So, CVS now has 7,000 stores in 41 states and the District of Columbia, and calls its CVS/pharmacy chain “America’s largest retail pharmacy.”

But take a look at rival Walgreen.

Walgreen, or Walgreens, as the stores are called, has been around more than 60 years longer than CVS.  It has the lead, at least when it comes to stores and states covered.

Walgreen has been paring back its rapid store openings.  Even so, its 7,000th store actually opened the first week in September and it has stores in every U.S state.  Update: Walgreen’s current store count is 7,036.

Let’s take a look at revenue.  CVS has the overall lead, if you include its big pharmacy benefits management business.  If you focus on the stores, Walgreen holds the top spot.  Barely.  According to IBISWorld, Walgreen has 27 percent of industry revenue, while CVS holds 26 percent.

Still, CVS won the party game.  Walgreen’s 7,000th store celebration won’t take place until Oct. 1.

(Reuters photos)

Check out the sluggish sales at Walgreen.
 
People filled more prescriptions at the drugstore chain, but didn’t buy much else.  August same-store sales rose only 1.9 percent, less than analysts had anticipated.
 
While many retailers have been experiencing sales declines, drugstores have generally done much better because an aging population  has been buying more prescriptions drugs.
 
But Walgreen’s sales of general merchandise fell 1.3 percent.
 
That could be a bad sign for other retailers that report sales this week. Walgreen is the third-largest retailer that reports monthly sales, behind only Costco and Target.
 
Overall, analysts are expecting a 3.8 percent drop in same-store sales when retailers report this week.
 
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(Reuters photo)

People have been worried about the H1N1 flu, aka swine flu, for months but the vaccine for that flu is not expected until at least mid-October.

So, for the time being, we’re taking a look at how the three major U.S. drugstore chains are preparing for the seasonal flu, which is responsible for about 36,000 deaths in the United States each year.

A survey conducted by Walgreen in mid-August found that 50 percent of consumers plan to get a seasonal flu shot this year, up from 43 percent who say they got one last season.  Twenty-seven percent of respondents to the online poll said they were more concerned about getting the flu than they were a year ago. 

Another poll found more than 60 percent of Americans plan to get the H1N1 flu vaccine.

CVS is putting the biggest dollar figure behind its push, unveiled on Monday, offering $3 million worth of seasonal flu shots to the unemployed this season.  That’s 100,000 shots.

Walgreen has another lofty number in mind — 5 million.  That is the number of vaccinations the largest drugstore chain by revenue wants to administer this season.  Last flu season, it handled 1.2 million shots and nasal spray flu vaccinations.

Walgreen said it would give vouchers for $1 million worth of flu shots, or 40,000 of them, to uninsured consumers.  Walgreen is also asserting itself as having the largest U.S. retail network of immunizers, with 16,000 able to administer the shots. Last year, only 7,500 of the company’s pharmacists could do so, a spokeswoman said.

Rite Aid, the smallest of the three chains, said it has more than 2,000 certified immunizing pharmacists on hand at more than 1,500 of its 4,800-plus stores.

Pricing for shots will vary.  Walgreen is promoting its flu shots at $24.99, while CVS and Rite Aid each priced their shots at $30.

(Reuters photo)

Check out June same-store sales at drugstore chains.

Walgreen Co and Rite Aid both reported sales at stores open at least a year, pointing to shoppers filling more prescriptions but buying less discretionary summer merchandise. Walgreen said same-store sales in June rose 3.4 percent, while smaller rival Rite Aid saw sales slip 0.6 percent.

Economists and analysts had previously pointed to signs the recession may be nearing an end, but the news is still mixed as the number of jobs cut in June was higher than expected and the unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent.

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(Reuters photo)

Check Out the battle over Medicaid money.

Pharmacy chain Walgreen Co and Delaware are playing hardball in a battle over cuts in prescription drug reimbursements — a model other cash-strapped states could follow as they try to compensate for budget shortfalls.

Delaware plans to reduce the amount it reimburses pharmacies for filling Medicaid prescriptions though by half as much as it previously intended.

Medicaid provides health insurance to low income people and is jointly funded by states and the federal government.

Walgreen, Delaware’s largest pharmacy with 62 stores, says it would lose money on most branded drug prescriptions it fills for Medicaid patients under the state’s new plan. It will now stop taking Medicaid prescriptions as of July 6. 

So far, the 100 or so other pharmacies in Delaware are not taking Walgreen’s cue.

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(Photo/Reuters)

Check out the expected weak May sales in the U.S. retail landscape.

Despite Memorial Day sales, warmer weather and deals such as $1 flip-flops, most U.S. retailers are expected to report declines in same-store sales in May as shoppers kept hunting for bargains in the recession.

Only eight of 30 retailers are expected to post growth in May sales at stores open at least a year when companies report results this week. Walgreen kicked things off with a 1 percent increase, but that was below what analysts had expected due to weaker-than-expected sales at its pharmacy counters.

May same-store sales are expected to fall 3.6 percent from a year earlier, when they rose 1.1 percent, according to Thomson Reuters’ revenue-weighted index of sales.

The data excludes Wal-Mart, as the world’s largest retailer stopped reporting monthly sales data with April results. Wal-Mart, one of the best-performing retailers during the recession, had held about 50 percent of the weighting in the monthly average.

There are signs, however, that the global recession may have bottomed out as an Ipsos/Reuters poll showed global consumer confidence is stabilizing after falling for 18 months.

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(Reuters photo)

Check out retailers at the high end and the mass level topping Wall Street profit expectations after cutting costs.

Tiffany & Co’s fourth-quarter profit  handily topped analysts’ estimates, after the luxury jeweler took aggressive steps to tighten its cost structure as even wealthy consumers pare back spending in the recession.

Tiffany said earlier this month it would close its 16 Iridesse stores, since the chain, which specialized in pearl jewelry, recorded an operating loss ever since it started a few years ago. In January, the company said it was reviewing all elements of its cost structure. On Monday, it said it would suspend buying back its own shares until further notice.

Historically, retailers at the high end and low end were more shielded than those in the middle from the impact of a recession, as wealthy consumers were less affected and mass retailers and drug stores sold necessary items like medicines and toiletries.  Yet the scope of the current downturn has meant all levels of retailers felt the pain and have therefore sought ways to preserve costs as sales slow.

Walgreen Co, which is in the midst of a major overhaul that includes job cuts, store remodeling and moving some pharmacy work to centralized locations, posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit as those efforts paid off.

The drug store chain also said it filled 4 percent more prescriptions in the quarter than a year earlier, while retail competitors filled 1 percent fewer prescriptions.

Walgreen is also promoting paper towels, tissues, food and other items in new advertising, touting itself as a place to shop for “Affordable Essentials.”

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(Reuters photos)

Check out the new chief executive at Walgreen.

The drugstore chain confounded some investor expectations by staying in house and naming President Greg Wasson as its next CEO.

After looking for months at external candidates, it said Wasson will take over Feb. 1. The news was somewhat unexpected as Walgreen had hired a search firm and looked at several outside candidates. Some analysts had suggested Walgreen needed to bring in an outsider to shake things up.

Wasson, a former pharmacist with the Deerfield, Illinois-based chain, said he is planning to steer Walgreen through a recession that economists have told the company could last until the middle of 2010.

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(Photo\Reuters)