• December 22, 2008

While business is relatively brisk at Walgreens' pharmacies, the Deerfield. Ill.-based retailer is further cutting back its expansion plans, citing the tough economic climate.

Sales for the first quarter of its fiscal year rose 6.6% to a record $14.9 billion, and comparable store-sales gained 1.7%, while net earnings dropped 10.4% to $408 million. Prescription sales, which make up 66% of sales this quarter, climbed 6.2%.

"We continue to post solid sales results and achieve strong cost control in this difficult retail environment," company executives said in a release. "Customer traffic strengthened through the quarter and we're making substantial progress on our growth strategies to get more from our core operations and enhance the customer experience."

But it says it will further reduce store openings in 2010 and 2011, reducing capital expenditures through 2011 by an additional $500 million. (It announced $500 million in cap-ex savings back in July.)--Sarah Mahoney