Convenience Stores

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens reported August sales of $5.9 billion, a decrease of 4.5% as compared with the same month in fiscal 2011.

August pharmacy sales decreased 7.2%, while comparable-store pharmacy sales decreased 12.4%. In addition to the Express Scripts impact, comparable-store pharmacy sales were negatively impacted by 7.9 percentage points due to generic drug introductions in the last 12 months. Pharmacy sales accounted for 64.1% of total sales for the month.

MINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu is closing approximately 60 stores as the company moves forward with its turnaround plans. The company will shutter 38 stores in its retail food reporting segment and 22 Save-A-Lot locations. The majority of the stores are expected to close before Dec. 1, the end of the company’s fiscal 2013 third quarter.

NEW YORK — Safeway will package $150 million in real healthcare savings into an overall wellness strategy to be implemented over the course of 2013, the grocer's chairman and CEO Steve Burd told analysts Thursday morning at the Goldman Sachs 19th Annual Global Retailing Conference.

Walmart was ranked second on this year’s Latina Style 50 Report, the publication announced earlier this week.

Now in its 15th year, the Latina Style 50 report seeks to identify companies that are providing the best career opportunities for Latinas in the U.S. Cable television operator Comcast was this year’s top ranked company.

Atlanta -- M-commerce provider CorFire said Thursday that it is providing virtual mobile payment capabilities to Dunkin' Donuts.

The technology supports Dunkin' Donuts' recently launched mobile app, which eliminates the need for physical cards and enables consumers to gift via SMS, email and social networks.
 
The Dunkin' App is technology agnostic and the solution, which works on most smartphones, delivers Dunkin' Donuts franchisees with payment and gifting solutions that drive customer loyalty while providing cost savings.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. has saved more than 2.34 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, which equals 1.47 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, in 2011, according to the chain’s sixth annual Sustainability Report.

Dallas -- Loyalty solution-provider Alliance Data Systems Corp. said Thursday that its Canadian coalition loyalty business has signed a new agreement with Michaels of Canada, a subsidiary of Irving, Texas-based Michaels Stores, to issue Air Miles reward miles across multiple Canadian provinces.

Minneapolis -- Supervalu announced Wednesday it will close about 60 underperforming or nonstrategic stores in fiscal 2012. The closings include 22 Save-A-Lot locations, 27 Albertsons stores, four Acme stores and one previously announced Jewel-Osco.

The majority of the stores are expected to close before Dec. 1, which marks the end of the company’s fiscal 2013 third quarter.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid posted a 0.4% increase in same-store sales for the month of August, the retail pharmacy operator said Wednesday.

The increase included a 2.4% increase in front-end comps and a 0.6% decrease in pharmacy comps. Total store sales for the five-week period that ended Saturday were roughly $2.41 billion, a 0.4% decrease from last year's $2.414 billion. Same-store prescription count increased by 4.5%.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway on Wednesday announced that it plans to file a registration statement in the United States for a potential initial public offering of a minority ownership stake in Blackhawk Network Holdings, a leading prepaid payments network.