The drug store channel showed higher-than-average growth last year with unit sales increasing 2.2 percent versus a retail industry average decline of 0.6 percent in food, drug, convenience and mass merchandise stores, excluding Walmart, according to Susan Viamari, consumer insights expert at Chicago-based SymphonyIRI Group. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), Alexandria, Va., adds that drug store sales were up 3.4 percent through November 2011 compared to the same time period in 2010.
This growth is significantly less than the 7.7 percent increase reported for overall retail sales, NACDS adds. Nevertheless, beverage unit sales grew 8 percent in the drug store channel versus an industry average of 2 percent, SymphonyIRI’s Viamari says.