Walgreen Co.

Deerfield Park, Ill. – The Walgreen Company won a North American Innovation in Loyalty Marketing award at the recent Colloquy Loyalty Awards. The award recognized Walgreens’ achievements with its Balance Rewards program.

Colloquy cited achievements such as obtaining 72 million members between its September 2012 launch and May 2013, as well as producing a year-over-year sales increase of 4.3% and year-over-year average basket size increase of 4.7% in May 2013.

New York -- New York City drugstore operator Duane Reade, a division of Walgreens, on Tuesday celebrated an important social milestone — surpassing one million followers on Twitter — with a gala event at the chain’s flagship on Wall Street. From September 2012 to date, the regional retailer has organically grown its Twitter following by 6,709%, making it one of the fastest-growing accounts on Twitter year over year. With 1.1 million followers at latest count, the chain is believed to be the most followed retailer in the drug, food and mass arena.

Boulder, Col. -- Publix Pharmacy is North America’s favorite based on customer satisfaction, according to a new study of 3,600 consumers conducted by customer intelligence solutions provider Market Force Information. Target was a close second and Kroger ranked third. All three received high marks in operational attributes such as service, cleanliness, atmosphere and checkout times.

Walgreens and CVS/pharmacy ranked the highest when those consumers were asked to name their pharmacy chain, with 18% identifying Walgreens and 17% CVS.  

West Orange, N.J. — Paul V. Profeta and Associates, a real estate investment firm, has completed the sale of 12 Walgreens properties in nine states to Inland Real Estate Acquisitions. The purchase price was $60 million or more than $330 per square foot.

All of the properties are occupied under long-term 75-year triple-net leases with the Walgreens pharmacy chain. Walgreens has the right to cancel after 25 years.

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, 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.