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CAMP HILL, Pa. — Continuing an upward trend, Rite Aid Corp. saw same-store sales climb for the third month in a row in February.
The drug store chain said Thursday that for the five weeks ended Feb. 26, comparable-store sales rose 1% year over year. That built on gains of 1.1% in January and 0.6% in December. Before the increase in December, Rite Aid hadn’t reported a monthly uptick in same-store results since May 2009.
Comp-store sales for February were up 1.1% in the front end and 0.9% in the pharmacy, according to Rite Aid. The retailer said that the pharmacy same-store results reflect a 243-basis-point negative impact from generic drug introductions. Prescription count at comparable stores during the month rose 1.3% over the prior-year period.
Overall drug store sales in February inched up 0.1% to almost $2.44 billion.
For the 13-week fourth quarter ended Feb. 26, same-store sales gained 0.9% versus a year ago, Rite Aid said. That included gains of 1% in the front end and 0.8% in the pharmacy, while prescriptions filled at comparable stores edged up 0.8%. Total drug store sales for fourth quarter dipped 0.1% to $6.43 billion.
Rite Aid finished the year slightly down on the sales side. Same-store sales for the 52 weeks ended Feb. 26 decreased 0.7%, reflecting declines of 0.3% in the front end and 0.9% in the pharmacy. Prescriptions filled at comparable stores slipped 1.2%. Overall drug store sales for the year declined 1.8% to nearly $25.12 billion.
As of Feb. 26, Rite Aid operated 4,714 stores compared with 4,780 stores a year earlier.
