Walgreen February Total Sales Up, Same-Store Sales Down

Deerfield, Ill. Walgreen Co. announced Tuesday its February same-store sales slid 1.9%, crediting the fall to the prior year's leap day, along with declines in the pharmacy products.

Total sales rose 3.4% to $5.09 billion from $4.92 billion last year.

Same-store pharmacy sales fell 0.9%, while comparable front-end, or non-pharmacy, sales fell 3.5%.

The company said last year's February sales benefited from one extra day because of leap year. Adjusting for the day, sales in comparable stores rose 1.9%, while comparable front-end sales for 28 days decreased 0.2%.

Walgreens opened 19 stores during February, including one relocation, acquired three stores and closed one.