Table of Contents
CAMP HILL, Pa. — Same-store sales at Rite Aid Corp. edged up in September despite flat results in the front end.
Rite Aid said Thursday that for the four weeks ended Sept. 26, comparable-store sales rose 1.5% year over year, about the same as the 1.6% comp-store gain in August.
Front-end same-store sales dipped 0.1% for September, while comparable pharmacy sales were up 2.2%. Rite Aid said pharmacy same-store sales reflect a negative impact of 234 basis points from introductions of new generic drugs.
In September, prescription count at comparable stores declined 0.7% compared with the year-ago period.
Overall drug store sales for September came in at $2.059 billion, up 1.8% from $2.022 billion a year earlier. Prescription sales represented 70.1% of drug store sales in the month.
For the 30 weeks ended Sept. 26, same-store sales were up 2.3%, including gains of 0.4% in the front end and 3.2% in the pharmacy. Prescriptions filled at comparable stores rose 0.7%.
Total drugstore sales for the 30 weeks were $15.264 billion, up 2.3% from $14.924 billion a year ago. Prescription sales accounted for 69.3% of drug store sales in the period.
As of Sept. 26, Rite Aid operated 4,562 drug stores, compared with 4,571 stores a year earlier.
