Pharmacy Sales Help Walgreens, Rite Aid Overcome Delayed Easter
The largest and third-largest drugstore chains reported a drop in front-end sales which were offset by an increase in pharmacy and prescription drug income.
Higher pharmacy sales helped offset weakness in other segments at drugstore chains Walgreens and Rite Aid over March. The largest and third-largest drugstore chains reported a drop in front-end sales which were offset by an increase in pharmacy and prescription drug income. Walgreens reported 8% growth in its pharmacy while Rite Aid enjoyed a 3.5% jump. Soft spending outside of the pharmacy was due to a later-than-normal Easter this year -- April 20 compared to March 31 last year.
