Walgreens sees sales increase

DEERFIELD - Walgreens announced Tuesday that same-store sales rose 2 percent in July, driven by the pharmacy as front-end operations suffered from the weak economy.

Same-store sales are a key indicator of retailer performance since they measure growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Separately, same-store pharmacy sales rose 3.8 percent, while front-end sales fell 1.3 percent.

Total sales in July for both the pharmacy and front end, including new stores, rose 7.3 percent to just under $5.26 billion.