Rite Aid December Same Store Sales Slip 0.1%; Total Drugstore Sales Flat

(RTTNews) - Retail drugstore chain operator Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) Thursday said that for the four weeks ended December 26, same store sales decreased 0.1 percent over the prior-year period. December front-end same store sales increased 0.8 percent.

Meanwhile, Pharmacy same store sales, which included an approximate 207 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions, decreased 0.6 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores decreased 0.4 percent over the prior-year period.

Total drugstore sales for the four-week period were flat with sales of $2.212 billion compared to $2.212 billion for the same period last year. Prescription sales accounted for 64.6 percent of drugstore sales, and third party prescription sales represented 98.0 percent of pharmacy sales, the company said.