CAMP HILL, Pa. — Same-store sales improved but were still down slightly in September at Rite Aid Corp.
The drug store chain reported Thursday that for the four weeks ended Sept. 25, same-store sales dipped 0.9% year over year. That result was a bit better than the 1% decline in August but continued a series of same-store sales decreases since the retailer posted virtually flat same-store sales in March. Its last reported same-store sales gain was in May 2009.
In September, same store sales fell 0.3% in the front end and 1.2% in the pharmacy. Rite Aid noted that the pharmacy same-store results included a 233-basis-point negative impact from new generic drug introductions and that prescriptions filled at comparable stores decreased 1.3%.
Total drug store sales for September were down 2% to $1.90 billion from $1.94 billion a year earlier, Rite Aid said.
For the 30-week year-to-date period ended Sept. 25, Rite Aid’s same-store sales declined 1.2% over the prior-year time span. That result reflected same-store decreases of 1% in the front end and 1.3% in the pharmacy, where comparable-store prescriptions filled were down 1.8% from the year-ago period.
Overall drug store sales for the 30 weeks came in at nearly $14.41 billion, down 2.3% from $14.74 billion in the prior-year span.
As of Sept. 25, Rite Aid operated 4,742 drug stores, compared with 4,809 stores a year ago.
