Walgreen Co.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — May proved to be a good month for Walgreens, as the drug store chain posted a total sales jump of 7% to nearly $6.1 billion.

Walgreens reported that its total front-end sales experienced a 5.5% increase, while comparable front-end sales realized a 3.6% increase.

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Drugstore.com on Tuesday announced the expiration of the waiting period under the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, with respect to the proposed merger by which the company would be acquired by Walgreens in a cash transaction.

The deal previously was announced on March 24.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Sales for Walgreens during the month of April edged up 5.5%, thanks to a boost in both front-end and pharmacy sectors.

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- Walgreens announced that it has partnered with NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products to launch an exclusive line of “The Biggest Loser”-branded meal alternative bars and shakes. According to a company press release, the line of products, named for the popular NBC weight-loss reality show, will be offered in all of the more than 7,600 Walgreens stores nationwide beginning in May.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens said its same-store sales rose 3.4% in April. But analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected, on average, that revenue at those stores had risen 3.6%.

Walgreen said pharmacy comp-store sales were up 1.8%, below analysts' estimate of 2.4%. The company said the results were hurt by 1.9 percentage points because of a calendar shift and the move of the allergy drug Allegra from prescription to over-the-counter status.

Deerfield, Ill.  -- Walgreen Co. has agreed to buy 10 Carle RxExpress pharmacies in east central Illinois.

The chain did not disclose terms of the deal. It expects the sale to close by July. Walgreen said it will continue to run six of the pharmacies and will consolidate a seventh into the others. It will close three other locations and transfer prescription files and inventory to nearby Walgreen locations.

The stores are currently owned by The Carle Foundation, a not-for-profit company based in Urbana, Ill.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — As part of Earth Month in Illinois, Gov. Patrick Quinn Tuesday morning toured a Walgreens drug store in Oak Park, Ill., that features the first geothermal energy system used in a chain drug store in the country, Walgreens stated in a release.

The system, which went live when the store opened last October, has reduced the store's expected energy usage by 60%.

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreens helped launch the nation’s first privately funded and comprehensive electric vehicle charging network with an initial station at its drug store at Belt Line Road and Montfort Drive in Dallas. The retailer is working with NRG Energy to install high-powered rapid charging eVgosm Freedom Stations at 18 locations across the Dallas/Fort Worth area,