Retail News Breaks

July same-store sales tail off at Rite Aid

CAMP HILL, Pa. – Encountering weak front-end sales, Rite Aid saw its same-store revenue dip in July.

The drug store chain said Thursday that same-store sales fell 0.6% for the four weeks ended July 25. The company also had reported a 0.6% same-store sales dip for June.

On the front end, July same-store results declined 4.7%, and in the pharmacy same-store revenue rose 1.4%. The latter included a 436-basis-point negative impact from new generic introductions, the company noted.

Excluding the acquired Brooks Eckerd stores, July same-store sales were flat, with the front end seeing a 4.6% decrease and the pharmacy posting a 2.7% gain, according to Rite Aid.

Total drug store sales in July, meanwhile, dropped 2.4% to nearly $1.93 billion from almost $1.98 billion a year earlier, the company reported. The decline was down slightly from a 2.5% falloff in total sales in June.

For the year to date, covering the 21 weeks ended July 25, same-store sales inched up 0.1%, with the front end falling 2.7% and the pharmacy generating a 1.5% gain.

Total drug store sales for the 21 weeks fell 1.7% to $10.41 billion from about $10.59 billion in the year-ago period.

Prescription revenue represented 68.1% of total drug store sales in July and in the 21-week period, Rite Aid said.

As of July 25, the chain operated 4,817 stores, down from 4,961 in the prior-year period.