Walgreen

NEW YORK -- Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, agreed yesterday to buy Happy Harry's Inc. drugstore chain, its biggest purchase ever, to expand into Delaware. Walgreen is acquiring all 76 Happy Harry's stores in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey, and Happy Harry's corporate office and distribution center in Newark, Del., the retailer said. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Walgreen, which operates 5,251 stores in 45 states and Puerto Rico, typically grows by building stores instead of through acquisitions as has rival CVS Corp.

The Harford County Sheriff's Office says an undisclosed amount of cash was taken at in an armed robbery at a Walgreens drug store in the Bel Air South area last Thursday night. A man entered the store in the 1900 block of Emmorton Road at about 8:10 p.m. Thursday, robbed the store clerk and then fled on foot toward the intersection of Route 924 (Emmorton Road) and Plumtree Road, the sheriff's office said in a news release issued Friday night. The sheriff's office has released still photos of the suspect taken from store security cameras.

Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, has agreed to pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over claims the company denied black managers promotions based on race. Walgreen, which admitted no wrongdoing, was accused in March of assigning black managers and pharmacists to low-performing stores in minority communities and denying them promotion opportunities. The settlement covers an estimated 10,000 class members, the commission said in a statement.

State employees, retirees and their dependents could no longer fill their prescriptions at Walgreens under a contract being considered by Maryland's Board of Public Works. The panel agreed Wednesday to defer action on the $2.4 billion five-year contract after Comptroller Peter Franchot protested that the O'Malley administration did not provide notice of its intent to award the pact until Friday. Despite state budget department concerns about the delay, Gov. Martin O'Malley and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp agreed to give Franchot two weeks to review the proposed deal before the three-member board takes a vote.

DEERFIELD, Ill. - Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, said yesterday that it accidentally overcharged as many as 4 million customers buying gifts and decorations the two days before Christmas because its payment-processing system malfunctioned from overuse. Walgreen discovered the error on Christmas Day and electronically reimbursed customers whose credit or debit cards had been incorrectly double- and triple-charged, company spokesman Michael Polzin said. Some credits may not post on customers' accounts until early next week, he said.

Walgreen Co., one of the nation's leading drugstore chains, plans to take on both Rite Aid and CVS in the fiercely competitive Baltimore region and begin opening stores by 2000, the Deerfield, Ill.,-based company said yesterday.The chain is seeking approval from local governments to build its first three drugstores -- on Eastern Avenue and North Avenue in Baltimore and on Liberty Road in Baltimore County. All would be built using the chain's latest prototype -- large, free-standing stores with drive-through pharmacies and convenience food sections.

Walgreen Co.'s first-quarter earnings rose 25 percent as the largest U.S. drugstore chain added stores and increased sales of prescription drugs. Net income of $231.6 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with $185.9 million, or 18 cents, a year earlier, the company said. Sales in the quarter that ended Nov. 30 increased 14 percent to $7.48 billion from $6.56 billion. Walgreen boosted spending on promotions to keep customers from switching to rivals such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., supermarket chain Safeway Inc. and drugstore chains offering discounts.

I've owned shares of Walgreen Co. in my individual retirement account for a number of years. Are they still a good investment? - J.T., via the Internet They remain a fine choice for your retirement account. It is difficult to fault a company that has produced three decades of consecutive annual earnings growth. Many of its investors grew up as its customers and maintain high expectations for it. Walgreen is a constantly expanding, brand-name innovator in an easily understood business that is increasingly dominated by large operators.

CVS Corp. said yesterday that it agreed to buy more than 1,200 Eckerd Corp. drugstores in a bid to unseat Walgreen Co. as the nation's biggest pharmacy. CVS, based in Woonsocket, R.I., and currently the number two drugstore chain, will become the nation's largest by number of stores when its $2.15 billion cash deal to buy about 1,260 Eckerd stores and its mail-order and pharmacy-benefits business from J.C. Penney Co. becomes final in June. The new CVS will have more than 5,000 stores and about $33 billion in annual sales, up from $26 billion in 2003.

In an escalation of the war between traditional drugstores and mail order prescription companies, the nation's largest pharmacy chain said yesterday that it will not do business with new insurance plans that require patients to order drugs by mail. The decision by Walgreen Co. doesn't affect consumers covered by prescription plans that currently have deals with the company, but its move has repercussions for Walgreen's future contracts. It's also a pre-emptive strike against the possible side effects of the new Medicare drug bill passed last month by Congress and awaiting President Bush's signature.

The man behind the back counter with white hair and tortoise-shell eyeglasses perched down his nose is Jerry A. Berger, who has been presiding at State Drugs in Parkville for decades. The regulars call him "Doc," and have come to rely on his advice about their prescriptions as well as his neighborly chats, his jokes and easygoing manner. While much else has changed in the past 40 years or so along this stretch of Harford Road considered Parkville's Main Street, Berger remains. The latest news seems to pose a direct challenge to State Drugs, as a Walgreens drugstore is being planned almost directly across the street after a decision to sell land that many in the neighborhood protested.

A 25-year-old man was shot above the left eye Thursday night outside a Baltimore drug store, but was expected to survive, according to police. A department spokeswoman said an officer responding to a call about a shooting shortly after 10 p.m. found the man lying on the ground outside a Walgreens store on the 2300 block of W. Patapsco Ave. and called paramedics. The victim was taken to a hospital with what the spokeswoman said was a nonfatal wound. Detectives from the department's Southern District were investigating the shooting.

Developers hoping to build a Walgreens pharmacy off Route 175 at Thunder Hill Road in Columbia won approval for their plan from a county hearing examiner Tuesday. The 25-page decision reversed an April rejection of the plan by the county Planning Board. Michele L. LeFaivre, the hearing examiner, ruled that the State Highway Administration and county traffic and planning officials showed convincingly that access to the site, where a former bank building has sat empty for years, would be safe.

CHICAGO - Guitars at Best Buy. Frozen pizzas at Menards. Yoga pants at Walgreen's. As the economy slows and the retail industry cuts back on investment in new-store construction, the time is ripe for dusting off a tried-and-true retail strategy: Sell more products in the stores you have. Sometimes it works. For instance, Barnes & Noble Inc. changed the bookselling business by putting coffee shops in its stores. Other times, it is a strategy that sends merchants far into the weeds. Midwestern shoppers may remember when supermarket chain Jewel sold lumber.

Walgreen Co. Shares declined $2.28, or 6.1 percent, to $35.06. The largest U.S. drugstore chain by revenue said generic drugs cut December pharmacy sales at stores open at least a year by 4.4 percentage points.

Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, has agreed to pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over claims the company denied black managers promotions based on race. Walgreen, which admitted no wrongdoing, was accused in March of assigning black managers and pharmacists to low-performing stores in minority communities and denying them promotion opportunities. The settlement covers an estimated 10,000 class members, the commission said in a statement.

Walgreen Co. Shares declined $2.28, or 6.1 percent, to $35.06. The largest U.S. drugstore chain by revenue said generic drugs cut December pharmacy sales at stores open at least a year by 4.4 percentage points.

What does the future hold for my CVS Corp. shares? - K.T., via the Internet The future looks bright in a rapidly consolidating drugstore industry in which it is a leader. But it is a fiercely competitive field. CVS, with more than 6,000 stores, has yet to match the profitability per store of traditional rival Walgreen Co. It is actively replacing many stores within strip malls with more profitable free- standing corner locations to try to narrow that profitability gap. Meanwhile, discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently rolled out a plan offering many generic drugs for $4 a prescription.

What does the future hold for my CVS Corp. shares? - K.T., via the Internet The future looks bright in a rapidly consolidating drugstore industry in which it is a leader. But it is a fiercely competitive field. CVS, with more than 6,000 stores, has yet to match the profitability per store of traditional rival Walgreen Co. It is actively replacing many stores within strip malls with more profitable free- standing corner locations to try to narrow that profitability gap. Meanwhile, discount retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently rolled out a plan offering many generic drugs for $4 a prescription.

NEW YORK -- Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, agreed yesterday to buy Happy Harry's Inc. drugstore chain, its biggest purchase ever, to expand into Delaware. Walgreen is acquiring all 76 Happy Harry's stores in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey, and Happy Harry's corporate office and distribution center in Newark, Del., the retailer said. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Walgreen, which operates 5,251 stores in 45 states and Puerto Rico, typically grows by building stores instead of through acquisitions as has rival CVS Corp.