By Michael Calia
Rite Aid Corp. on Thursday said sales at stores open at least a
year grew 4.8% for the four weeks ended Jan. 24, with
pharmacy-sales growth outpacing growth in the front end.
For the four-week period, Rite Aid said total drugstore sales
rose 4.3% to $1.94 billion.
The pharmacy business reported a 5.7% rise in same-store sales,
which included negative impact of 1.14 percentage points stemming
from new generic drugs. The prescription count rose 3.5%.
Front-end sales rose 2.9%, Rite Aid said.
The results mark a decrease from the company's sales figures in
December, when it posted 5.3% same-store sales growth and 4.9%
growth in overall drugstore sales.
Rite Aid, the nation's No. 3 drugstore chain, reported its sales
for January more than a week after rival Walgreens Boots Alliance
Inc. said it would cease issuing monthly sales reports. Instead,
the company will opt to explain its performance in quarterly
reports.
Write to Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com
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