Pharmacy sales deliver March boost to drugstores

Growing pharmacy revenue helped to deflect the blow delivered by the timing of the Easter holiday this year at the nation's biggest drugstore chains.

Comparable-store sales climbed 3.5 percent at Walgreen and less that 1 percent at Rite Aid Corp., the companies announced Thursday.

Easter, which traditionally drives non-pharmacy sales, fell on March 31 last year. The holiday occurs on April 20 this year.

Comparable-store sales, those from locations open at least a year, are considered a key indicator of a retailer's financial health because they strip away the volatility of recently opened or closed stores.

Walgreen and Rite Aid are the nation's largest and third-largest drugstore chains, respectively, based on the number of stores. The second-largest, CVS Caremark Corp., doesn't report monthly sales publicly.

Pharmacy revenue at Walgreen Co., which is based in Deerfield, Ill., rose 8 percent last month, while front-end sales fell 3.4 percent.

Pharmacy sales, which account for nearly 65 percent of the company's total, were helped in part by a shifting calendar that gave last month an additional Monday and one fewer Friday compared with last year. Mondays are typically the busiest pharmacy day during the week, Walgreen spokeswoman Emily Hartwig said.

Rite Aid, based in For Camp Hill, Pa., reported that pharmacy revenue climbed 3.5 percent, and front-end revenue fell 5 percent.

Both companies got a boost from pharmacy sales in February as well.

Walgreen had 8,221 drugstores at the end of last month, while Rite Aid operated 4,584.