Rite Aid April same-store sales edge up 0.5 percent

CAMP HILL, Pa.—Drug-store operator Rite Aid Corp. on Thursday said same-store sales rose 0.5 percent in April, as pharmacy results offset a decline in front-end same-store sales.

For the four weeks ended April 26, pharmacy same-store sales rose 1.8 percent. Front-end, or nonpharmacy, same-store sales fell 1.7 percent, hurt by an earlier Easter, which fell in March.

Combined March and April front-end same-store sales rose 1.9 percent.

Same-store sales, or sales in stores open at least one year, are a key gauge of a retailer's financial performance because it measures sales at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Total sales for the four-week period rose 47 percent to $2 billion.

Year-to date, same-store sales rose 1.6 percent and total sales rose 49 percent to $4 billion.

Rite Aid acquired Brooks Eckerd drugstores last year. The acquired stores are excluded form same-store sales calculations but included in total sales.

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