Walgreen Co.

Deerfield Park, Ill. - Walgreens had January 2014 sales of $6.39 billion, an increase of 3.7% from $6.17 billion for the same month in fiscal 2013. Same-store sales grew 2.9%.

Calendar day shifts negatively impacted total comparable sales by 0.3 percentage point, while generic drug introductions in the last 12 months negatively impacted total comparable sales by 0.9 percentage point. Walgreens opened 12 stores during January, including three relocations, and closed three.

New York -- RadioShack Corp. will close about 500 stores within months as part of its ongoing restructuring, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The retailer, which is due to report results for the fourth quarter later this month, has about 4,500 locations.

Deerfield Park, Ill. – Walgreen Co. is reportedly suing CVS Caremark Corp., Rite Aid Corp. and Shopko Stores Inc. for allegedly infringing on a patent for using mobile phone scanners to refill prescriptions. According to Bloomberg, Walgreens filed a complaint in federal court in Wilmington, Del., saying the three competitors are violating a patent it received in January 2013.

Pharmacy benefit analytics company Truveris has named former Walgreens and Apple veteran Anthony Barrett as VP sales, central region.

Barrett joins Truveris with more than 33 years of achieving growth and leading strategic business development, sales and clinical teams. Experienced in healthcare and IT, Barrett worked at Healthways, Prime Therapeutics, Walgreens, Apple and Xerox.

New York — Walgreens will host a grand re-opening of its 24/7 flagship store in Union Square, Manhattan, on Jan. 23. The store opened originally in 2001.

Walgreens is the nation’s largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2013 sales of $72 billion. The company operates 8,200 drug stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Generic drug introductions at Walgreens had a negative impact on total comparable sales, but the company still reported net sales of $7.2 billion, an increase of 7.2%, and a comparable-store sales increase of 6.1% in December.

Calendar day shifts positively impacted total comparable sales by 170 basis points, while generic drug introductions in the last 12 months negatively impacted total comparable sales by 70 basis points. December 2013 had one additional Tuesday and one fewer Saturday compared with December 2012.

Walgreens, Walmart and Kroger were among major retailers quick to implement temporary new programs designed to help customers coping with one of the many glitches associated with the roll out of the Affordable Care Act.

Deerfield Park, Ill. – Walgreens received a perfect score of 100% on the 2014 Corporate Equality Index (CEI). This marks the ninth year Walgreens earned 100% on the CEI, a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBT workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.