Walgreen Co.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens on Tuesday announced it has acquired North Carolina pharmacy chain Kerr Drug. The purchase of the privately held regional outfit, which generated $381 million in revenue in 2012, includes its 76 retail stores and specialty pharmacy chain.

Dallas -- SRS Real Estate Partners (SRS) announces highlights of August transactions and new assignments.

Atlanta:
Shoe Carnival has executed a new lease for an 11,542-sq.-ft. space at Heritage Pavilion in Smyrna, Ga. The new location is expected to open in October 2013. SRS represented the tenant in this transaction. Developers Diversified Realty represented the landlord.

Jacksonville, Fla. — Madison Hawk will conduct a real estate auction on Sept. 18 for a free standing retail building just east of downtown Jacksonville, Fla. The building is part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding.

Located at 1220 University Avenue, the 1.72-acre property contains a 15,070-sq.-ft. Walgreens Pharmacy that generates about $302,000 in net income annually. The Walgreens Co. lease is Double Net (NN) with the initial term running through 2019.

Deerfield Park, Ill. – Walgreens is shaking up its Daily Living organization by shuffling the roster of key marketing and merchandising executives. These promotions and appointments, effective Oct. 1, accompany the appointment of Alex Gourlay, chief executive of Alliance Boots Health and Beauty Division, as Walgreens executive VP, president of customer experience and daily living.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — July sales at Walgreens experienced an 8% boost. They totaled $6.03 billion, up from $5.59 billion for the same month in fiscal 2012. 

Comparable-store sales increased by 6.3% in July. Calendar day shifts positively impacted total comparable sales by 1.4 percentage points, while generic drug introductions in the last 12 months negatively impacted total comparable sales by 1.8 percentage points.

New York -- A group of 11 large U.S. retailers that report same-store sales results each month had a generally strong showing in July. However, Thomson Reuters analysis indicates significant discounting helped drive an overall 4.4% increase, more than double the 1.4% same-store sales rise recorded in July of last year.

In a recent interview, Walgreens’ CEO Greg Wasson spoke at length about the ways in which the drug store chain is evolving. I thought the interview (posted online under the title Walgreens gets a modern makeover), was fascinating, particularly where Wasson explained the company’s bold plans to “reimagine” its stores.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens is rebranding more than 370 former Take Care in-store health clinics as Healthcare Clinics. The national rebranding effort is already in process and expected to be complete by the end of August. Rebranding includes a new web page, walgreens.com/clinic.

Deerfield, Ill. – Walgreens posted gains in sales and earnings during its fiscal third quarter 2013, but still came in below the expectations of Wall Street analysts. Earnings rose 16% to $624 million from $537 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2012. However, excluding certain items, analysts had expected earnings of close to 30 cents a share higher for the quarter.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens cited a challenging economy and low front-end comparable store sales for its weaker than expected third quarter results. 

The company has therefore initiated a three-point plan to boost front-end performance as the company shifts its Balance Rewards customer-acquisition focus into second gear with a greater emphasis on redemption and rewards.