Mass Merchant

New York City -- Walgreens said Thursday its same-store sales in February rose 3.1%, but the growth was slower than Wall Street expected. Analysts expected, on average, expected a 3.5% increase.

The company said pharmacy same-store sales rose 2.7% but were hurt by generic drug introductions over the last year. Non-pharmacy, or front-end, revenue increased 3.8%.

Rite Aid Corp. said Thursday that its same-store sales rose 1% in February, less than the 1.5% increase analysts had predicted.

Reference to the posthumous gyrations of Walmart’s legendary founder Sam Walton were quite common in recent years as the company pursued a wide range of disruptive strategies in the name of Project Impact. You never had to look far to find someone with an opinion on how Walton would feel about some aspect of Walmart’s business, as the universe of those who profess to have some unique insight into his psyche is so large.

The National Governors Association named Walmart the recipient of its annual Public-Private Partnership Award at the closing of its 2011 Winter Meeting. The award is now in its fifth year and honors companies that have partnered with a governor's office to implement a program or project that positively affects the state's citizens. Walmart was nominated by Arkansas Gov.

The March issue of Fortune contains the magazine’s annual ranking of the most admired companies and this year’s list shows Walmart slipped two spots from the prior year and now occupies the 11 position.

New York City -- Sales at Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Kohl’s surpassed analysts’ estimates in February amid gradually moderating temperatures and rising consumer confidence. However, analysts warned that a late Easter and rising gasoline prices could impact sales going forward.

Confidence among U.S. consumers rose in February to the highest level in three years, according to a Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index, as a drop in unemployment helped overcome concern over rising food and fuel costs.

The Walmart board approved a hefty 21% increase to what was already one of the retail industry’s richest dividend payouts, the company announced late Thursday. The increase approved by the board puts Walmart’s annual dividend at $1.46 a share for the current fiscal year compared with last year’s dividend of $1.21. The dividend will be paid in quarterly installment of 56.5 cents.

Old Bridge, N.J. -- R.J. Brunelli & Co. said Thursday that it has completed a series of leases that will bring major retailers, restaurants, recreational facilities and personal services to sites in Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Mercer, Union, Essex, and Bergen counties in central and northern New Jersey.

Costco and BJ’s were out with quarterly results this week following the release of Sam’s Club results last week that included flat operating profits and a 2.7% same-store sales increase excluding gas. Those results, characterized by Sam’s Club president and CEO Brian Cornell as strong and very pleasing, are consistent with results out this week from club competitors. Both Costco and BJ’s reported quarterly results that were in-line with or beat analysts’ expectations.