Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, sees customers who have grown more value conscious.
“Many of our customers are concerned about long-term employment,” Kermit Crawford, president of the company’s pharmacy, health and wellness business, said at a health-care conference on Jan. 7. “They’re concerned about issues such as Medicare and Social Security. They’re concerned about the debt issues. It’s changing the way they think about value. It’s changing the way they shop.”
Employment gains are helping sustain demand. Employers added 155,000 workers in December, according to Labor Department data. For all of 2012, the economy created 1.84 million jobs, matching the gain in 2011. It’s the best back-to-back reading since 2005-2006.
Consumers are also paying less at the gas pump. The average price of a gallon of gas yesterday was $3.36, down from a recent high of $3.87 in September, according to data from AAA, the biggest U.S. motoring organization.