Top Retailers

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Monday reported November sales of $6.1 billion, an increase of 4.2%, compared with the same month in fiscal year 2011. Sales in comparable stores increased 1.8%.

Total front-end sales increased 4%, with comparable store front-end sales up 2.7%. Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 30 basis points and basket size was up 3%.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid is responding to a flu vaccination campaign by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by lowering prices on flu vaccinations, the retail pharmacy chain said Monday.

To mark National Influenza Vaccination Week, the retailer is offering flu shots for $19.99 through Dec. 17.



It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It’s that kind of Dickensian double-speak that personifies the tone of the holiday forecasts this year — forecasts that have really been all over the board.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — To deliver the value of a supercenter with the convenience of a drug store — that is the essence of the Dollar General strategy.


Walmart’s first small-format Express stores have only been open about six months, but strong initial consumer acceptance, coupled with increasingly flexible real estate, points to the near certainty of an eventual rollout.


The stores range between 10,000 and 15,000 sq. ft., offer about 13,000 products and were developed so Walmart could tap potential growth opportunities in rural and urban markets. Walmart expects to end its current fiscal year in late January 2012 with 11 Walmart Express stores following the opening of the first units in northwest Arkansas.


PROVO, Utah — Orabrush tongue cleaners have become a case study in Internet marketing success with the brand’s nearly 300,000 Facebook fans and quirky YouTube videos that have attracted more than 40 million views and opened the doors for retail distribution.


Two years ago, the company produced and posted its first YouTube video with a $500 budget, offering the product for sale online. The videos clearly struck a cord and today, online support has translated into securing space in 16,000 retail locations worldwide, including Walmart and CVS this fall.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target reported November same-store sales increased 1.8%, which was toward the low end of the company’s guidance that called for an increase in the low to mid single-digit range.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — In an effort to emphasize the importance of being protected against the flu, Illinois governor Pat Quinn visited a Chicago Walgreens to receive his seasonal flu shot.

Walgreens, which announced earlier this week that it was teaming up with the Department of Health and Human Services to provide flu shot vouchers to uninsured Americans, offers flu shots at its pharmacies at Take Care Clinics daily, with no appointment necessary.

Quinn received his flu shot Friday at Walgreens on 933 N. State St. in Chicago.