Walgreens’ same-store sales down in January

Deerfield, Ill. Walgreen Co. said Wednesday that same-store sales fell 1.1% in January. The company said calendar shifts hurt its sales: January 2010 had one more Sunday and one less Thursday than January 2009, and business tends to be stronger on Thursdays. Walgreen also said new launches of low-cost generic drugs hurt its revenue. Generic drugs are more profitable for the company, however.

For all Walgreen stores, total sales grew 2.7% to $5.36 billion, from $5.22 billion. The company said pharmacy revenue grew 1.6% and front-end sales rose 3.9%.

The company had 7,162 stores as of Jan. 31. The results from stores open at least one year exclude 503 stores Walgreen opened or acquired in 2009. The company also has 503 worksite health centers, home care facilities and other pharmacies.